Treatment guidelines for idiopathic inflammatory myopathies in adults: a comparative review

Abstract

Myositis, or idiopathic inflammatory myopathy, encompasses a group of autoimmune diseases with broad-spectrum clinical presentations, with a common presentation of muscle weakness and inflammation. The management of myositis presents significant challenges due to the rarity and variability of the disease and lack of large-scale, randomised controlled trials. Due to limited evidence available from smaller studies as well as variation in treatment practices across geographical regions and disease subtypes, available published treatment recommendations vary significantly. There is a need, therefore, to develop multidisciplinary consensus-driven guidelines which appropriately reflect the diverse and complex nature of the disease. This comparative review presents an in-depth analysis of existing myositis treatment guidelines from diverse organisations, highlighting similarities and key differences in diagnoses, treatment and management recommendations. We propose that there is a need for developing globally unified, consensus-driven standardised set of guidelines for effective myositis management.