Abstract
A 50-year-old woman visited our hospital in September 1988 with erythematous eruptions on her face, extremities and back, and also demonstrated muscle weakness. A clinical diagnosis of dermatomyositis was made and predonisolone (60 mg/day) was administered. An improvement of the cutaneomuscular symptoms was observed, but a sudden development of interstitial pneumonitis failed to respond to high-dose corticosteroid therapy including pulse therapy. This patient eventually died 8 days after the onset of pulmonary symptoms. In spite of the normal level of CPK and LDH in the laboratory examinations, this case had a poor prognosis. We emphasize the fact that the pulmonary disease may sometimes occur in dermatomyositis and the CPK level in the serum does not always reflect the activities of dermatomyositis.
