[Epidemioclinical aspects of dermatomyositis in the region of Tunis].

BACKGROUND

Dermatomyositis (DM) is a rare but serious disease. The aim was to evaluate the epidemiology, presenting clinical manifestations, therapeutic features and outcome of patients with DM.

METHODS

From January 1986 to December 2003, we collected retrospectively cases of DM identified at the dermatology department of Habib Thameur hospital. We included only patients with definitive diagnosis of DM.

RESULTS

We included 13 patients, mean aged 32.85 years: 9 adults and 4 children. We identified 9 cases of adult DM among them 2 cases of wiihich were of paraneoplastic DM and 4 cases of juvenile DM among them 1 case of amyopathic DM and 1 case of DM associated with connective tissue disease. The evolution of DM followed the course of the neoplasm for the 2 patients with paraneoplastic DM. All patients received corticotherapy initially. Patients were followed-up for an average of 3 years (2 months to 10 years). We found no serious repercussions on the growth of children with juvenile DM.

CONCLUSION

DM is rare in Tunisia. In our study, its frequency is about 0.72 patients per year. Age of onset of DM is markedly smaller than the one reported in the relevant litterature. Our 2 cases of DM associated with cancer are considered like really paraneoplastic. Juvenile DM seems to have a relatively good prognosis.