DERMATOMYOSITIS

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does dermatomyositis mean? 

• DERMATOMYOSITIS (noun)
  The noun DERMATOMYOSITIS has 1 sense:

1. myositis characterized by weakness of limb and neck muscles and much muscle pain and swelling accompanied by skin rash affecting cheeks and eyelids and neck and chest and limbs; progression and severity vary among individuals

  Familiarity information: DERMATOMYOSITIS used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DERMATOMYOSITIS (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Myositis characterized by weakness of limb and neck muscles and much muscle pain and swelling accompanied by skin rash affecting cheeks and eyelids and neck and chest and limbs; progression and severity vary among individuals

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("dermatomyositis" is a kind of...):

myositis (inflammation of muscle tissue)

 Context examples 

Dermatomyositis causes muscle weakness, plus a skin rash.

(Myositis, NIH: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)

Representative examples include muscular dystrophy, metabolic myopathies, muscular atrophies, and dermatomyositis.

(Myopathy, NCI Thesaurus)

Dermatomyositis may occur in association with malignant neoplasms.

(Dermatomyositis, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

It includes autoimmune disorders (e.g., lupus erythematosus, dermatomyositis, rheumatoid arthritis), congenital and acquired immunodeficiency syndromes including the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), and neoplasms (e.g., lymphomas and malignancies secondary to transplantation).

(Immune System and Related Disorders, NCI Thesaurus)

Historically, a heterogeneous group of acute and chronic diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, progressive systemic sclerosis, dermatomyositis, etc. This classification was based on the notion that collagen was equivalent to connective tissue, but with the present recognition of the different types of collagen and the aggregates derived from them as distinct entities, the term collagen diseases now pertains exclusively to those inherited conditions in which the primary defect is at the gene level and affects collagen biosynthesis, post-translational modification, or extracellular processing directly.

(Collagen disease, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

Polymyositis and dermatomyositis are first treated with high doses of a corticosteroid.

(Myositis, NIH: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)

Two specific kinds are polymyositis and dermatomyositis.

(Myositis, NIH: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)