Clinical characteristics and factors associated with dysphagia in idiopathic inflammatory myopathy: A cross-sectional observational study

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the clinical and laboratory characteristics of idiopathic inflammatory myopathy (IIM) patients with dysphagia and determine associated factors. METHODS: We conducted an observational study of 96 patients with IIM in the Department of Rheumatology and Immunology at Ma'anshan People's Hospital from September 2019 to June 2024, whose swallowing function was assessed and recorded. Clinical and laboratory characteristics were compared between patients with and without dysphagia in this cross-sectional study. Logistic regression analysis was used to identify factors associated with dysphagia in patients with IIM. RESULTS: Among the 96 patients with IIM, 20 (21%) experienced dysphagia. The incidence was 2 of 9 patients (22%) with polymyositis, 12 of 54 patients (22%) with dermatomyositis, 2 of 27 patients (7%) with antisynthetase syndrome, and 4 of 6 patients (67%) with immune-mediated necrotizing myopathy (IMNM), with significant differences (P=0.015). Patients with dysphagia exhibited significantly higher levels of creatine kinase-MB isoenzyme (CK-MB), lactate dehydrogenase, serum ferritin, rates of concomitant tumor, and positivity for autoantibodies directed against transcription intermediary factor 1-γ (anti-TIF1γ) and against the signal recognition particle (anti-SRP) than those without (all P