Rheumatology Medical News about Polymyositis; pemphigus vulgaris; rituximab

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Polymyositis and pemphigus vulgaris in a patient: Successful treatment with rituximab
Joint, Bone, Spine, 05/22/08

Tournadre A et al. - We report a case of antisynthetase syndrome with a history of EBV-induced lymphoma which developed a pemphigus vulgaris. Rituximab was effective both on polymyositis and on pemphigus. Fifteen months later, the patient died from a septic shock after the first cyclophosphamide infusion for amyloidosis while the B cell population remained depleted. Rituximab may be a good alternative to immunosuppressive drugs in polymyositis and pemphigus especially in lymphoma-risk patients. However, it did not prevent progression to secondary amyloidosis and the fatal infection developed in this patient raises the question of whether a prolonged B cell depletion with rituximab contributes to a greater risk of infection.

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