04INV Acquired muscle disorders - a paediatric perspective

Abstract

Acquired muscle disorders comprise of a heterogenous group of treatable infectious or inflammatory disorders. Outside the benign self-limiting viral myositis, the most common acquired muscle disorders are Immune mediated myopathies (IIMs) which include juvenile dermatomyositis, juvenile polymyositis and immune-mediated necrotising myopathy. IIMs are rare in paediatric cohorts with an annual incidence of 1.6- 4 cases/million children compared to adult incidence of 0.2-2/100,000 person years, leading to diagnostic delay including misdiagnosis as genetic or para-infectious muscle disorders and consequently morbidity and mortality due to treatment delay. The talk will cover the pathophysiology mechanisms, clinical presentations, current and emerging treatment strategies in management of paediatric acquired muscle disorders focusing particularly on the nuances of the issues which are pertinent to children and young people compared to adults.