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Rheumatology 2003; 42: 34-39
© 2003 British Society for Rheumatology

Polymyositis as a manifestation of chronic graft-versus-host disease

A. M. Stevens1,2,, K. M. Sullivan3 and J. L. Nelson1,2

1 University of Washington and
2 Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA and
3 Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA.

Objective. Chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) after haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) has similarities to some idiopathic autoimmune diseases, including polymyositis. To investigate the relationship between chronic GVHD and idiopathic myositis we conducted a detailed analysis of all cases of myositis occurring in a large series of HSCT patients.

Methods. We conducted a retrospective chart review of all cases of myositis that developed in 7161 patients who underwent HSCT at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center between 1969 and 1999.

Results. Among 1859 individuals who developed chronic GVHD, 12 developed myositis. No patients developed myositis without chronic GVHD. Myositis was first identified between 7 and 55 months after transplantation. In histopathology, electromyography, laboratory values and response to immunosuppressive therapy, the cases resembled idiopathic polymyositis. Autoantibodies were found in eight cases.

Conclusions. Myositis in the chronic GVHD population occurred with an incidence higher than expected by chance, suggesting that muscle may be a target tissue for chronic GVHD. Recent studies have implicated allogeneic cells persisting after maternal–fetal cell transfer in selected autoimmune diseases, including myositis. This report lends support to the possibility that both idiopathic myositis and chronic GVHD-related myositis could involve allo-autoimmune responses.

KEY WORDS: Myositis, Autoimmune disease, Stem cell transplantation, Chimerism, Chronic graft-versus-host disease.

Correspondence to: A. M. Stevens, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Immunogenetics, D2-100, 1100 Fairview Avenue NE, Seattle, WA 98109, USA. E-mail: astevens{at}fhcrc.org


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