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Information	Symptoms	Diagnosis	Treatment	Picture
Amyopathic	Juvenile	Polymyositis	Reaserch	Causes

Amyopathic Dermatomyositis

Amyopathic dermatomyositis is a variant of dermatomyositis that is characterized by the typical skin rash but without the muscle abnormalities.

Symptoms of Amyopathic dermatomyositis

Skin rash
Reddish-purple skin patches
Purple eyelids
Purple spots on bony joints
Photosensitivity

Causes of Amyopathic dermatomyositis

The cause is unknown, but it may result from either a viral infection or an autoimmune reaction. In the latter case it is a systemic autoimmune disease. Many people diagnosed with dermatomyositis were previously diagnosed with infectious mononucleosis and Epstein-Barr virus. Some cases of dermatomyositis actually "overlap" (are combined with) other autoimmune diseases such as: Sjögren's syndrome, lupus, scleroderma, or vasculitis. Because of the link between dermatomyositis and autoimmune disease, doctors and patients suspecting dermatomyositis may find it helpful to run an ANA - antinuclear antibody - test, which in cases of a lupus-like nature may be positive (usually from 1:160 to 1:640, with normal ranges at 1:40 and below.

dermatomyositis picture

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