Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2014 Oct;14(5):525-7.
doi: 10.7861/clinmedicine.14-5-525.

A young woman with myalgia

Abarna Ratnarajah  1 , Brendan Barber  2 , Yohan Samarasinghe  2 , Mark Lloyd  2
Affiliations
Case Reports

A young woman with myalgia

Abarna Ratnarajah et al. Clin Med (Lond). 2014 Oct.

Abstract

We describe the case of a young female presenting with myalgia, mildly raised creatine kinase and a rash. The discussion emphasises the importance of a systematic approach to muscle symptoms, the value of a detailed hand examination and the importance of magnetic resonance imaging in the investigation of muscular symptoms.

Keywords: Muscle; myalgia; rash.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig 1.
Fig 1.
Gottrons papules: erythematous papules overlying the metacarpal and interphalangeal joints.
Fig 2.
Fig 2.
Dilated nail fold capillaries and long cuticles with tiny infarcts.
Fig 3.
Fig 3.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the shoulders and thorax with coronal short tau inversion recovery (STIR) sequence taken before steroid therapy. The image shows diffuse hyperintense signal within the muscles of the upper limb and shoulder girdle, consistent with oedema.
Fig 4.
Fig 4.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the shoulders and thorax with coronal short tau inversion recovery (STIR) sequence taken after steroid therapy. The image shows a marked reduction of the oedema within the muscles compared to Fig 3.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Mehta G, Iqbal B. Clinical medicine for the MRCP PACES: Volume 1 core clinical skills. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010.
    1. Ryder REJ, Afzal M, Freeman A, Fogden E. An Aid to the MRCP PACES: Volume 3: Station 5, 4th edn. Oxford: Wiley-Blackman, 2013.
    1. Amato AA, Greenberg SA. Inflammatory myopathies. Continuum (Minneap Minn) 2013;19(6 Muscle Disease):1615–33. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Miller M, Vleugels RA. Clinical manifestations of dermatomyositis and polymyositis in adults. UpToDate, 2013; www.uptodate.com/contents/clinical-manifestations-of-dermatomyositis-and... [Accessed 31 July 2014].
    1. Carstens PO, Schmidt J. Diagnosis, pathogenesis and treatment of myositis: recent advances. Clin Exp Immunol 2014;175:349–58. 10.1111/cei.12194 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

Substances