Camptocormia and a dropped head are poor prognostic factors in certain forms of myositis

An international consortium of clinicians coordinated by the Strasbourg Reference Centre looked at patients with inflammatory myopathy with regard to two uncommon clinical signs:

• camptocormia and/or head droop syndrome in 49 patients with inflammatory myopathy,
• their clinical and biological data were compared with those of 98 patients with inflammatory myopathy but without these two signs,
• in these 49 patients, who were older on average and had a poorer prognosis, there was a higher rate of scleromyositis, more frequent dysphagia and higher mortality.

 

In inflammatory myopathies, dropped head/bent spine syndrome is associated with scleromyositis: an international case-control study. Pijnenburg L, Giannini M, Bouchard-Marmen M et al. RMD Open. 2023 Sep