['Inclusion body'-myositis]

Abstract

In 3 patients, a 72-year-old man, a 62-year-old man and a 73-year-old woman with weakness of respectively the quadriceps femoris, the finger flexors and the pharyngeal muscles, the diagnosis of 'inclusion body myositis' was made. This is a rare, slowly progressive skeletal muscle disorder which is more common in men and after the age of fifty. The activity of serum creatine kinase is often 2-5 times the highest normal value. The electromyogram pattern is myopathic, but can also display neuropathic changes (exclusively). Inclusion body myositis is often misdiagnosed, which can lead to an inappropriate treatment or approach. A frozen muscle biopsy is needed to make cryostat sections for demonstration of myositis with rimmed vacuoles.