Successful treatment of alveolar hypoventilation due to dermatomyositis with anti-tumour necrosis factor-alpha

SIR, Respiratory complications can be seen in the course ofdermatomyositis (DM), but alveolar hypoventilation due to respiratorymuscle weakness has only been infrequently reported [1, 2].Alveolar hypoventilation can be resistant to conventional agents,which may result in either death or dependence on home mechanicalventilation [2, 3]. We present a patient with DM with alveolar hypoventilation whofailed to respond to a combined immunosuppressive treatment.The initiation of anti-tumour necrosis factor-alpha (anti-TNF-)resulted in improvement in her ventilatory insufficiency. A 19-yr-old girl was