Pregnant patient with dermatomyositis successfully treated with intravenous immunoglobulin therapy

Abstract

Introduction The idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIMs) comprise a heterogeneous group of diseases of unknown etiology characterized by chronic inflammation of the skeletal muscles. IIMs are rare in subjects of reproductive age and very few cases of pregnancy in women affected by IIMs have been reported in the literature. Furthermore, these have generally been associated with a poor pregnancy outcome and relapses of disease activity, suggesting a negative effect of pregnancy on disease activity and vice versa (1–7). Here we describe the case of a woman with classic dermatomyositis (DM) that developed at the beginning of her pregnancy. She was treated with intravenous immunoglobulin therapy (IVIG) and corticosteroids and was delivered of a healthy 3,180-gm boy at 35 weeks’ gestation.