Dysphonia in Polymyositis/Dermatomyositis in Adults

The purpose of this study was to examine clinical dysphonia in patients with polymyositis (PM)/dermatomyositis (DM). The subjects were 21 Japanese patients with PM/DM (11 females, 10 males; mean age ± SD, 61.4 ± 16.2 years) who visited our department between April 2009 and March 2020. Dysphonia was evaluated by laryngoscopy and histopathological examination. Eight (38.1%) patients were aware of dysphonia. These patients included one with PM and 7 with DM, 5 were male and 3 were female, and the mean age at diagnosis was 62.0 (range 48 to 72) years. White lesions on the vocal cords were found in 7 of the patients with dysphonia. The patient without these white lesions had regurgitation into the nasal cavity. Histopathological examination revealed inflammation of lamina propria in the laryngeal white lesions. White lesions on the vocal cords were found in patients with dysphonia in patients with polymyositis (PM)/dermatomyositis (DM). Histopathological examination revealed fiber necrosis and inflammatory cell infiltration in lamina propria of the laryngeal lesions. White lesions on the vocal cords were relieved by treatment. Level of Evidence 2b (Individual retrospective cohort study).