Adjunctive use of hydroxychloroquine in childhood dermatomyositis

We examined retrospectively the use of hydroxychloroquine in 9 patients with childhood dermatomyositis (DM). These patients had an incomplete response to corticosteroid therapy or had disease exacerbation when attempting to taper corticosteroids. They received hydroxychloroquine in a mean dosage of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of rheumatology Vol. 16; no. 12; p. 1545
Main Authors Olson, N Y, Lindsley, C B
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Canada 01.12.1989
Subjects
Adolescent
Antineoplastic Agents - therapeutic use
Child
Dermatomyositis - drug therapy
Dermatomyositis - physiopathology
Drug Therapy, Combination
Female
Humans
Hydroxychloroquine - adverse effects
Hydroxychloroquine - therapeutic use
Male
Muscles - physiopathology
Pain
Palliative Care
Prednisone - therapeutic use
Retrospective Studies
Vision Disorders - chemically induced
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Summary:We examined retrospectively the use of hydroxychloroquine in 9 patients with childhood dermatomyositis (DM). These patients had an incomplete response to corticosteroid therapy or had disease exacerbation when attempting to taper corticosteroids. They received hydroxychloroquine in a mean dosage of 3.6 mg/kg (range 2-5 mg/kg) while maintaining corticosteroid therapy. Significant improvement was noted at 3 months of therapy in rash (p less than 0.0001), proximal (p = 0.0004) and abdominal muscle strength (p = 0.0001) and at 6 months of therapy in reduced prednisone dosage (p less than 0.02). These data suggest hydroxychloroquine may be helpful in some patients with childhood DM, particularly those with prominent cutaneous disease or significant corticosteroid toxicity.
ISSN:0315-162X