A Case of Dermatomyositis Showing Vesicular Lesion Associated with Ovarian Cancer

You-Jung Ha; Sang-Youn Jung; Kwang Hoon Lee; Jun Jung Choi; Kwang Kil Lee; Soo-Kon Lee; Yong-Beom Park

doi:10.4078/jkra.2009.16.4.291

Journal List > J Korean Rheum Assoc > v.16(4) > 1003687

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Ha, Jung, Lee, Choi, Lee, Lee, and Park: A Case of Dermatomyositis Showing Vesicular Lesion Associated with Ovarian Cancer

Original Article

J Korean Rheum Assoc 2009;16(4):291-295.

Published online: 20 January 2009

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4078/jkra.2009.16.4.291

A Case of Dermatomyositis Showing Vesicular Lesion Associated with Ovarian Cancer

You-Jung Ha¹, Sang-Youn Jung¹, Kwang Hoon Lee¹, Jun Jung Choi², Kwang Kil Lee², Soo-Kon Lee¹, Yong-Beom Park¹

¹Division of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

²Department of Pathology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

Received 30 May 2009 Revised 23 July 2009 Accepted 27 July 2009

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Dermatomyositis is a rare inflammatory myopathy with characteristic skin manifestations and accompanied by muscular weakness. Vesicle formation in dermatomyositis is rare. We report a case of dermatomyositis associated with ovarian cancer in a 62-year-old woman who had vesicles and bullae on her arms. She had erythema and edema on the face, chest, abdomen, and shoulder for 2 months. Diagnosis of dermatomyositis was established by clinical manifestations, muscle enzyme elevation, and a characteristic electromyogram. She was successfully treated with cyclosporin and high doses of steroids.

Keywords: Dermatomyositis, Ovarian cancer, Bullae or vesicle

References

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Fig. 1.

Skin lesions (A) periorbital erythema and edema (Heliotrope rash), (B, C) diffuse erythematous swelling on the anterior chest, neck, upper back and shoulder (V sign, Shawl sign) (D) multiple erythematous patches and bullae on the right arm.

Fig. 2.

Skin biopsy revealed subepidermal inflammatory bullae (A) epidermal atrophy and marked subepidermal edema (H&E stain, ×40), (B) inflammatory cell (lymphocyte, histiocyte, and eosinophil) infiltration around the bullae. (H&E stain, ×200).

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