Paraneoplastik özellik gösteren iki hastalık: Dermatomiyozit ve multisentrik retikülohistiyositoz

Dermatomyositis is an idiopathic inflammatory myopathy which is characterized by progressive proximal muscle weakness and specific skin manifestations. Although the relationship between idiopathic myositis with cancer is well known, particularly patients with dermatomyositis carry the highest risk of an accompanying malignancy (6-60%). The most common encountered malignancies are ovarian, lung, breast, stomach and colorectal cancer. Older age, extensive and severe skin involvement, necrotic skin lesions, rapidly progressive severe muscle weakness, and elevated serum creatine kinase level enhance the risk of malignancy. Multicentric reticulohistiocytosis, a rare form of non-Langerhans cell histiocytoses, is characterized by cutaneous nodules and progressive destructive polyarthritis. Association with a wide variety of cancers including breast and stomach carcinoma as the most frequent ones, have been reported in almost 30% of the cases. Although the signs of arthritis usually occur at presentation in multicentric reticulohistiocytosis, in case of an accompanying malignancy, skin lesions appear first and sometimes arthropathy may not develop at all. Although it has not been well confirmed, both diseases are considered as paraneoplastic disorders, therefore a possible associated neoplasm should be looked for in every patient diagnosed with either of them. In this article, the general characteristics of dermatomyositis and multicentric reticulohistiocytosis with particular emphasis on their relationship with associated malignancies are reviewed.\u