| Abstract: | We report a 23-year-old man suffering from an overlap syndrome of systemic scleroderma and dermatomyositis who died from severe dilated cardiomyopathy. Because his weakness involved predominantly muscles in the facio-scapulo-humeral regions, he was initially thought to have facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) at other hospitals. However, he had also Raynaud phenomenon and low voltages on electrocardiogram. His apparent facial weakness was mainly due to atrophic skin changes. Unlike FSHD, the deltoid and levator scapulae muscles were also atrophic. Deltoid muscle biopsy performed one year earlier at another hospital showed mild myopathic changes without inflammation, but there were scattered thick-walled endomysial capillaries, suggesting inflammatory myopathy. Biceps brachii muscle biopsy in our hospital showed marked inflammation with perifascicular atrophy. In this patient, the cardiac muscle involvement progressed together with the skeletal muscle inflammation before scleroderma became apparent. |
