Anti-MDA5 antibody testing takes two to eight weeks and fails to detect 17% of cases — so in rapidly progressive ILD, the skin exam is the faster test. This review covers the pathognomonic and characteristic DM rashes, the specific findings that flag anti-MDA5, TIF1γ and NXP2, why DM-specific rashes appear in antisynthetase and overlap myositis, presentations in skin of colour, and the treatments for refractory cutaneous disease.
Hair loss in rheumatic disease is rarely just cosmetic — it can mark active inflammation, a drug effect, or an irreversible scarring process. This review walks through the mechanisms behind alopecia in lupus, RA, sarcoidosis, scleroderma and dermatomyositis, the DMARDs that cause shedding, the scarring alopecias that mimic systemic disease, and a stepwise bedside approach for the non-dermatologist.
A contemporary NEJM review of idiopathic inflammatory myopathies — the five-subtype framework (IBM, IMNM, antisynthetase syndrome, overlap, dermatomyositis), the autoantibody revolution that now anchors classification, and the shift toward subtype-specific therapy with biologics, JAK/TYK2 inhibitors, and CAR-T.