Cardiac findings in children with juvenile Dermatomyositis at disease presentation

• Published in: Pediatric Rheumatology Vol. 15; no. 1; p. 54
• Main Authors: Cantez, Serdar, Gross, Gil J, MacLusky, Ian, Feldman, Brian M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 11.07.2017; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Adolescent; Age of Onset; Analysis; Arthritis; Canada - epidemiology; Cardiac arrhythmia; Child; Child health; Child, Preschool; Complications and side effects; Dermatomyositis; Dermatomyositis - complications; Dermatomyositis - diagnosis; Dermatomyositis - epidemiology; Dermatomyositis - physiopathology; Echocardiography - methods; Echocardiography - statistics & numerical data; Electrocardiography; Electrocardiography - methods; Electrocardiography - statistics & numerical data; Female; Heart disease; Heart Diseases - diagnosis; Heart Diseases - epidemiology; Heart Diseases - etiology; Heart rate; Humans; Hypertension; Juvenile dermatomyositis; Laboratories; Male; Mass Screening; Medical diagnosis; Mortality; Patients; Pediatrics; Prognosis; Rheumatology; Screening; Skin; Statistics as Topic; Ultrasonic imaging; Values; Norway; Juvenile dermatomyositis; Screening; Heart disease
• ISSN: 1546-0096; 1546-0096
• DOI: 10.1186/s12969-017-0182-0

Juvenile Dermatomyositis (JDM) is a pediatric vasculopathy characterized primarily by skin and muscle involvement. Cardiac findings have been reported in children with JDM but have rarely been investigated in detail. We aimed to describe the relevant clinical and laboratory cardiac findings of a cohort of patients with JDM, followed at one centre, at disease diagnosis. We performed a retrospective review of 105 patients with JDM, followed from 1991 to 2007. Six of 70 patients (9%, 6% of the entire cohort) had abnormal electrocardiographic (ECG) findings, while 26 of 54 patients (48%, 25% of the entire cohort) had abnormal echocardiographic (echo) findings. Many of these findings were either mild or unlikely to be a result of JDM. Our findings suggest that cardiac abnormalities at JDM disease onset are frequently seen, but are rarely significant findings due to disease; however, JDM patients should be considered for screening for cardiac disease as late cardiac complications are well recognized.