Myositis: Getting to the Heart

Moderator(s)

• 

  Lorinda Chung, MD, MS

  Stanford University

Speaker(s)

• 

  Louise Diederichsen, PhD

  Copenhagen University Hospital, Rigshospitalet
• SZ

  Sammy Zakaria, MD

  Johns Hopkins

Idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIM) include the main subgroups polymyositis (PM), dermatomyositis (DM), inclusion body myositis (IBM) and juvenile DM (JDM). These subgroups are characterized by inflammation of skeletal muscles leading to muscle weakness, and other organs may also be affected. Even though clinically significant heart involvement is uncommon, heart disease is one of the major causes of death in IIM. Recent studies show an increased prevalence of traditional cardiovascular risk factors in both JDM and DM/PM. The risk of developing atherosclerotic coronary artery disease is increased twofold to fourfold in DM/PM. New and improved diagnostic methods have in recent studies in PM/DM and JDM demonstrated a high prevalence of subclinical cardiac involvement, especially diastolic dysfunction. Interactions between proinflammatory cytokines, myositis-specific autoantibodies and traditional risk factors may contribute to the pathogenesis of cardiac dysfunction. Heart involvement could also be related to myocarditis and/or myocardial fibrosis, leading to arrhythmias and congestive heart failure, demonstrated both in adult and juvenile IIM.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify the specific myositis-specific autoantibodies that are associated with myocarditis and cardiomyopathy in IIM
• Review both traditional risk factors and possible immunologic mechanisms that contribute to cardiac involvement in IM
• Describe when to refer to the cardiologist and how to become proficient in the suggested work-up with regard to diagnosis, imaging and lipid management from the cardiologist’s perspective

Presentations:

• 12:00 PM – 12:20 PM ET

  Myocarditis, CAD, Autoantibodies and the Heart in Myositis
  Louise Diederichsen, PhD – Copenhagen University Hospital, Rigshospitalet
• 12:20 PM – 12:40 PM ET

  Myositis and the Heart: The Cardiologist's Perspective
  Sammy Zakaria, MD – Johns Hopkins
• 12:40 PM – 1:00 PM ET

  Q&A