A case of juvenile dermatomyositis with calcinosis universalis - Remarkable improvement with aluminum hydroxide therapy

Juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM) is a multisystem disease characterized by acute and chronic nonsuppurative inflammation of striated muscle and skin. JDM is classified into an independent entity in the classification of dermatomyositis, and it is marked by the development of calcinosis late in the course of the disease. Since an appropriate steroid therapy for the disease was established, the prognosis of the JDM has been improved except for a fulminant case. Frequency of calcinosis in JDM also has been decreasing because of the adequate steroid therapy. However, once calcinosis universalis occurs, this is the most troublesome and debilitating complication in JDM. Treatment of calcinosis universalis in JDM, so far, remains unsatisfactory. We report here a case of JDM, who suffered from it at the age of 3 years, with calcinosis universalis that showed remarkable improvement to orally administrated aluminum hydroxide.