Abstract
We report three patients with dermatomyositis who visited our department during the year 2012. They had typical skin lesions such as heliotrope rash, Gottron's sign, periungual erythema and nailfold punctate hemorrhage, diagnostic signs of dermatomyositis. Muscle involvements were observed in two patients but none of the patients had interstitial pneumonia. Anti-TIF1 antibodies, specific for dermatomyositis, were detected by immunoprecipitation in all patients. Although anti-TIF1 antibody has been reported to be strongly associated with internal malignancy, only one patient developed cancer (esophageal cancer). Patients with dermatomyositis and anti-TIF1 antibodies over the age of 40 were strongly associated with malignancy. We reported two patients with no malignancy, but we should identify whether the 68-year-old patient among these two has malignancy in the future.Skin Research, 12: 285-291, 2013
