1992 Volume 15 Issue 3 Pages 297-304
A case of dermatomyositis with digital gangrene and skin eruption which was improved by oral administration of vitamin A was reported. A 39-year-old woman with complaint of palmer and facial erythema later developed a decrease in muscle strength. The symptoms resisted to oral steroid therapy, but the muscle strength was almost normalised by the subsequent administration of cyclophosphamide and azathioprine. Because of the worsening of digital microcirculation which appeared later in the course of the disease, a gangrenous lesion appeared on the tip of the left fifth finger which was judged as being the consequence of vasculitis by muscle biopsy and angiography. By the treatment with vitamin A, however, the lesion dropped spontaneously, and both the skin eruption and circulatory disorder improved dramatically. Thus, we, hereby, reported a rare adult case of dermatomyositis with evident vasculitis and skin rash to which vitamin A was effective. The present case is considered valuable for the better understanding of the pathophysiology of dermatomyositis.
