Cardiac findings in children with juvenile Dermatomyositis at disease presentation

Background: juvenile dermatomyositis (jdm) is a pediatric vasculopathy characterized primarily by skin and muscle involvement. cardiac findings have been reported in children with jdm but have rarely been investigated in detail. methods: we aimed to describe the relevant clinical and laboratory cardiac findings of a cohort of patients with jdm,followed at one centre,at disease diagnosis. results: we performed a retrospective review of 105 patients with jdm,followed from 1991 to 2007. six of 70 patients (9%,6% of the entire cohort) had abnormal electrocardiographic (ecg) findings,while 26 of 54 patients (48%,25% of the entire cohort) had abnormal echocardiographic (echo) findings. many of these findings were either mild or unlikely to be a result of jdm. conclusions: our findings suggest that cardiac abnormalities at jdm disease onset are frequently seen,but are rarely significant findings due to disease; however,jdm patients should be considered for screening for cardiac disease as late cardiac complications are well recognized. © 2017 the author(s).