A review of inflammatory idiopathic myopathy focusing on polymyositis

Inflammatory idiopathic myopathies are a group of autoimmune diseases affecting predominantly the proximal skeletal muscles, with raised muscle enzymes, with or without skin involvement and extramuscular organ involvement. Autoantibodies help to characterize patients into different clinical phenotypes. Successful treatment necessitates controlling inflammation early with corticosteroids and invariably requires additional immunosuppressive therapy. This review focuses on the aetiology, pathogenesis, clinical presentation, investigations and management of patients presenting with inflammatory idiopathic myopathies, predominantly focusing on polymyositis and antisynthetase syndrome.