INTRODUCTION: Muscle and skin involvement are well defined in dermatomyositis but other symptoms contribute significantly to the disease burden and their treatment is not well characterized. This post hoc analysis of ProDERM assessed the effect of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) treatment on other manifestations of dermatomyositis beyond muscular and cutaneous involvement. METHODS: ProDERM was a randomized, placebo-controlled study. For weeks 0-16, patients with dermatomyositis received 2.0 g/kg IVIg (Octagam, 10%) or placebo every 4 weeks. Eligible patients entered the open-label extension, where all received IVIg to week 40. Pulmonary, skeletal, constitutional, gastrointestinal, and cardiovascular disease activity was assessed using the myositis disease activity assessment tool, comprising a visual analog scale (VAS; 0-10 cm) and myositis intention-to-treat activity index. RESULTS: Of 95 patients enrolled, 47 received IVIg and 48 received placebo to week 16. At baseline, 37.9% of patients experienced pulmonary, 64.2% experienced skeletal, 76.8% experienced constitutional, 33.7% experienced gastrointestinal, and 15.8% experienced cardiovascular involvement (VAS > 0.5). Among these patients, for those on IVIg, the following mean VAS scores decreased from baseline to week 16: pulmonary (37.7%; P = 0.001), skeletal (52.6%; P < 0.001), constitutional (44.4%; P < 0.001), and gastrointestinal (49.2%; P = 0.005). No corresponding improvement was seen with placebo except for constitutional VAS. With IVIg, the proportions of patients with arthritis (36.2 to 17.8%; P = 0.01), arthralgia (68.1 to 0.0%; P < 0.001), and fatigue (68.1 to 3.3%; P = 0.008) decreased from baseline to week 16. In the combined cohort, the proportions of patients with dysphonia (20.0 to 8.1%; P = 0.04), arthralgia (66.3 to 39.8%; P < 0.001), weight loss (10.5 to 3.4%; P = 0.04), fatigue (75.8 to 50.0%; P < 0.001), and dysphagia (40.0 to 18.4%; P < 0.001) decreased from baseline to week 40. CONCLUSION: IVIg was effective in treating pulmonary, skeletal, constitutional, and gastrointestinal manifestations of dermatomyositis. We advocate exploring IVIg as treatment for dermatomyositis, beyond muscle and skin manifestations. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials. gov identifier, NCT02728752.

Department of Dermatology and Allergology University of Szeged Szeged Hungary

Department of Neurology Friedrich Baur Institute Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich Munich Germany

Department of Neurology University of Kansas Medical Center Kansas City KS USA

Division of Clinical Immunology Faculty of Medicine University of Debrecen Debrecen Hungary

Division of Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine Pittsburgh PA USA

Division of Rheumatology Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University Augusta GA USA

Division of Rheumatology University of California 200 Medical Plaza Los Angeles CA 90095 USA

Global Medical and Scientific Affairs Octapharma Pharmazeutika Produktionsges m b H Vienna Austria

Institute of Rheumatology Research Department and Department of Rheumatology 1st Medical Faculty Charles University Prague Czech Republic

Phoenix Neurological Associates Ltd Phoenix AZ USA

Tareev Clinic of Internal Diseases Sechenov 1st Moscow State Medical University Moscow Russia

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