Spectrum of inclusion body myositis

The clinical, laboratory, and biopsy features are described for a large group of patients with inclusion body myositis (IBM) (15 men and four women; mean age, 63 years). A quantitative histopathologic analysis of muscle biopsy specimens revealed less fiber necrosis and endomysial and perivascular inflammation in IBM than in polymyositis (PM) and dermatomyositis, but a more frequent occurrence of dark-angular and hypertrophied fibers. Rimmed vacuoles were present in 3.4% of all fibers and 15- to 18-nm filaments were identified in the biopsy specimens of nine of 11 patients. A panel of monoclonal antibodies immunoreactive with lymphocytes and cells of monocyte/macrophage lineage suggested that the inflammatory reaction in IBM was similar to that in PM (but not dermatomyositis) and mediated by cellular immune responses. These studies confirm the clinical and histopathologic distinctions between IBM and chronic PM, and that differentiation between these disorders is often difficult.