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- Title
Natural history of the eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome.
- Authors
Culpepper, Randall C.; Williams, Ronald G.; Mease, Philip J.; Koepsell, Thomas D.; Kobayashi, John M.; Culpepper, R C; Williams, R G; Mease, P J; Koepsell, T D; Kobayashi, J M
- Abstract
<bold>Objective: </bold>To describe the natural history and disease progression of the eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome and to assess the therapeutic effects of orally administered steroids on the disorder as of October 1990.<bold>Design: </bold>Case-series analysis. A cohort of 45 patients with the eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome was followed prospectively by periodic telephone interviews and medical examinations for an average of 14 months after onset of illness.<bold>Setting: </bold>Washington state.<bold>Patients: </bold>The cases of 47 patients were reported to the Washington State Department of Health from 1 July to 12 December 1989. Two patients were unavailable for follow-up, and the remaining 45 completed the study.<bold>Main Results: </bold>Patients were predominantly non-Hispanic white women (87%) with an average age of 49 years. Symptoms typically progressed from early onset of myalgia and fatigue to later development of neurologic and scleroderma-like skin changes. Six (13%) patients recovered completely within 2 to 5 months of symptom onset. After 14 months of illness, over half of the patients who initially presented with myalgia, fatigue, or scleroderma-like skin changes remained symptomatic. The average severity of each major symptom was measured using interviews and patient self-reports and has improved subjectively by at least 40%. Statistical analyses showed no significant difference in long-term symptom duration or severity between patients treated and those not treated with prednisone.<bold>Conclusions: </bold>The eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome is a long-term illness characterized by progressive improvement during the first 25 weeks after symptom onset, followed by a protracted phase of symptom resolution. We could not show a clear-cut benefit of prednisone in reducing the long-term severity or duration of the disease.
- Subjects
WASHINGTON (State); UNITED States; NATURAL history; EOSINOPHILIA; SYNDROMES; DISEASES; DIAGNOSIS of muscle diseases; PREDNISONE; CENTERS for Disease Control &; Prevention (U.S.); LONGITUDINAL method; MUSCLE diseases
- Publication
Annals of Internal Medicine, 1991, Vol 115, Issue 6, p437
- ISSN
0003-4819
- Publication type
journal article
- DOI
10.7326/0003-4819-115-6-437