Cutaneous vasculitis in adult polymyositis/dermatomyositis

Seven (9.2%) of 76 patients with adult-onset polymyositis/dermatomyositis (PM/DM) seen over an 11-year period had cutaneous vasculitis. This was manifest by dermal and/or subcutaneous nodules in 4, periungual infarcts in 3 and digital ulceration in 2. When these 7 patients were compared to the remaining 69, a significant association was noted between cutaneous vasculitis and DM (p=.025); only 1 of 31 patients with primary PM and none of 18 with overlap syndromes had vasculitis. Furthermore, 2 (28.6%) of theose with vasculitis had an associated malignancy compared to only 4 (5.8%) of those without vasculitis. These data document the occurrence of cutaneous vasculitis in adult-onset PM/DM and suggest that its presence may be a marker of an underlying malignancy.