Localised gastrocnemius myositis in Crohn's disease

A19-year-old woman presented with pain and tenderness in both calves associated with pyrexia and neutrophil leukocytosis. Gastrocnemius muscle biopsy showed a non-specific lymphocytic myositis and she was found to have positive c-ANCA, in the absence of other evidence of systemic vasculitis. Subsequ...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Clinical rheumatology 2003-05, Vol.22 (2), p.143-145
Main Authors: Christopoulos, C, Savva, S, Pylarinou, S, Diakakis, A, Papavassiliou, E, Economopoulos, P
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Anti-Inflammatory Agents - therapeutic use
Antibodies, Antineutrophil Cytoplasmic - immunology
Crohn Disease - complications
Crohn Disease - diagnosis
Crohn Disease - immunology
Female
Humans
Inflammatory bowel disease
Muscle, Skeletal - pathology
Muscular system
Myositis - drug therapy
Myositis - etiology
Myositis - immunology
Prednisolone - therapeutic use
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:A19-year-old woman presented with pain and tenderness in both calves associated with pyrexia and neutrophil leukocytosis. Gastrocnemius muscle biopsy showed a non-specific lymphocytic myositis and she was found to have positive c-ANCA, in the absence of other evidence of systemic vasculitis. Subsequent investigation of her gastrointestinal tract revealed extensive Crohn's disease. The myositis responded promptly to treatment with prednisolone 0.5 mg/kg. A review of the literature showed that localised calf pain in the setting of Crohn's disease can be caused by non-specific myositis, granulomatous myositis or vasculitis. It is proposed that the "gastrocnemius myalgia syndrome" be included in the typical - albeit rare - extraintestinal manifestations that may herald the appearance of inflammatory bowel disease.
ISSN:0770-3198
1434-9949
DOI:10.1007/s10067-002-0679-9