Benign acute myositis in an adult: case-based review

ABSTRACT

Myositis is a clinical condition with a wide spectrum of clinical presentation. We present the case of 33 years old woman with acute history of pain and swelling of both legs. Investigations confirmed acute bilateral myositis of both calf muscles. She responded well to conservative management with full recovery. Benign acute myositis is more common in children and usually follows viral infection. Although our case may represent an adult form of benign acute childhood myositis, she had no history of preceding infections. Benign acute myositis is increasingly reported in adults. It appears to be self-limited with spontaneous full recovery. The diagnosis is largely based on clinical features. Therefore, clinicians should be aware of this type of myositis to avoid unnecessary invasive investigations.

KEYWORDS:

• Acute myositis
• benign
• clinical presentation
• classification
• adult onset
• diagnosis
• management

Key points

• Acute myositis is increasingly common clinical condition with wide spectrum of clinical presentation.

• We presented a case of benign acute myositis in an adult with full recovery on supportive therapy.

• Adulthood form of benign acute myositis may present differently compared with childhood form.

• Clinicians need to consider this diagnosis in adults presenting with muscle pain to avoid invasive investigations.

Reviewer disclosures

Peer reviewers on this manuscript have no relevant financial or other relationships to disclose.

Authors’ contributions

Authors contributed equally to the writing of the case report, literature search, drafting and reviewing of the manuscript.

Declaration of financial/other relationships

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Ethical approval

The authors had written consent from the patient for participation and publication of the study.

Additional information

Funding

No funding was received to produce this article.