We retrospectively analyzed the clinical and laboratory data of patients diagnosed with anti-transcriptional intermediary factor 1 (TIF-1γ) antibody-positive polymyositis (PM)/dermatomyositis (DM) to clarify the characteristics of this disease. We identified 14 patients with TIF-1γ antibody-positive DM (TIF-1γ DM), 47 with anti-aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase antibody (ARS)-positive PM/DM, and 24 with anti-melanoma differentiation-associated gene 5 antibody (MDA-5)-positive PM/DM treated at the Kurume University Hospital between 2002 and 2020. Patients with TIF-1γ DM were significantly older than the other two groups. Nine patients with TIF-1γ DM were female, thirteen patients had DM, and one had clinically amyopathic DM. Primary malignant lesions were lung (3), uterus (2), colon (2), breast (2), ovary (1), lymphoma (1), and unknown (2). Cutaneous manifestation and dysphagia were the most common symptoms in TIF-1γ DM. Erythema (9/14), the V-neck sign (8/14), heliotrope (9/14), and nailfold telangiectasia (14/14) were significantly more common in TIF-1γ DM. Furthermore, no patients with TIF-1γ DM had interstitial lung abnormality on high-resolution CT. In patients with TIF-1γ DM, the frequency of dysphagia and unusual erythema, particularly that which spreads from the trunk, and nailfold telangiectasia, were characteristic findings. In most patients with TIF-1γ DM, it is necessary to administer other immunosuppressive drugs along with glucocorticoids.

Various autoantibodies are associated with clinical outcomes in patients with idiopathic interstitial pneumonias (IIPs). We retrospectively analyzed the association between autoantibodies and malignancies in IIP patients. Comprehensive analyses of autoantibodies were performed using immunoprecipitation and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays in 193 consecutive IIP patients. Cancer-related factors were analyzed using logistic regression analysis. In total, 22 of 193 patients (11.4%) with IIP had malignant disease. In univariate analysis, positivity for any autoantibody (odds ratio (OR), 3.1; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.2–7.7; p = 0.017) and antinuclear antibody titer ≥1:320 (OR, 3.4; CI, 1.2–9.8; p = 0.024) were significantly associated with malignancies. Positive anti-aminoacyl tRNA synthetase (ARS) (OR, 3.7; CI, 0.88–15.5; p = 0.074) and anti-Ro52 antibody (OR, 3.2; CI, 0.93–11.2; p = 0.065) tended to be associated with malignancies. In multivariate analysis, independent risk factors were male sex (OR, 3.7; CI, 1.0–13.5; p = 0.029) and positivity for any autoantibody (OR, 3.9; CI, 1.5–10.1; p = 0.004) in model 1, and male sex (OR, 3.9; CI, 1.0–15.3; p = 0.049), antinuclear antibody titer ≥1:320 (OR, 4.2; CI, 1.4–13.3; p = 0.013), and positivity for anti-ARS antibody (OR, 6.5; CI, 1.2–34.1; p = 0.026) in model 2. Positivity for any autoantibody, antinuclear and anti-ARS antibodies, and male sex were independent risk factors for malignancies in IIP patients. Testing autoantibodies in IIP patients might help the early diagnosis of malignancies.

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A 68-year-old Japanese woman was diagnosed with palmoplantar pustulosis. She presented with anterior chest pain and swelling, as well as pain in the right first finger. Initially, antibiotics was ineffective, the patient was diagnosed with non-bacterial osteomyelitis. Computed tomography of the chest revealed a sternal bone thickening pattern, and technetium-99m bone scintigraphy showed accumulations in the left sternoclavicular joint and sternal angle. Additionally, contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging revealed osteitis in the sternal scapes and body. Based on these findings, the patient was diagnosed with pustulotic arthro-osteitis. The swelling of the right first finger repeatedly worsened and resolved spontaneously, the first right distal phalanx was amputated to rule out infection and malignancy. Histopathological evaluation revealed evidence of chronic non-bacterial osteitis, and associated with pustulotic arthro-osteitis. We report this case as histopathological examination is rarely performed to confirm the diagnosis of finger osteitis associated with pustulotic arthro-osteitis.