Immunopathogenesis of Inflammatory Myopathies

This chapter looks at inflammatory myopathies (IM), which constitute a heterogeneous group of acquired myopathies that have in common the presence of inflammation in the muscle tissue. The chapter looks at specific clinical features such as dermatomyositis, polymyositis, necrotizing autoimmune myositis, antisynthetase syndrome-overlap myositis, and inclusion body myositis. It then considers diagnosis, which can be made through muscle biopsy and the detection of autoantibodies. Finally, it looks at treatment options.