Thesis (Ph.D.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Medicine - Department of Pediatrics

Juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM), the most common inflammatory myopathy of child hood, is a rare multisystemic autoimmune vasculopathy. This study assesses autoantibody pattern in Egyptian patients with Juvenile dermatomyositis. This study conducted on 11 JDM patients. Serum autoantibody level was measured using extractable nuclear antigens by hybridization. The age of patients ranged from 5.5 to 15 years with a mean of 10.3 years. Sixty four% (64%) of JDM patients were females and thirty six% (36%) were males with a male to female ratio 1:2. The most common presenting manifestations in the study group were musculoskeletal manifestations (100%) dermatological manifestations (100%), and difficulty of swallowing (dysphagia) (9%). EMG was done for all patient and there was myopathic changes in (100%) of patients. Our results for autoantibodies done in this study were negative.Conclusion: Serum autoantibodies done in the study cannot be used as reliable marker for diagnosis or assessing disease activity

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