Ossifying Myositis - Causes, Symptoms And Treatment

2024 Author: Josephine Shorter | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 21:43

Ossifying myositis

Ossifying myositis is a group of diseases that affect connective tissue.

There are three subtypes of ossifying myositis:

• Traumatic;
• Progressive;
• Trophoneurological.

Each of these types of myositis has certain symptoms, differs in the nature of the course and the degree of severity. It has been established that most often men aged 30 to 40 suffer from ossifying myositis.

Content:

• Symptoms of ossifying myositis
• Causes of ossifying myositis
• Treatment of ossifying myositis

Symptoms of ossifying myositis

The symptoms of ossifying myositis will vary depending on the form of the disease:

1. Symptoms of traumatic myositis ossification. The disease can manifest itself several months later and even a year after the injury. Often there is a latent course of the disease with minor pains, which people do not attach importance to.

   Patients begin to seek medical help most often after the detection of a dense solid subcutaneous formation, which causes discomfort. The closer to the surface the area of ossification is located, the stronger the pain will be.

   An increase in muscle weakness for this type of myositis is not typical, there are no general symptoms of myositis, such as pain, weight loss, fever, weight loss.

2. Symptoms of progressive myositis ossification. This disease is also called ossifying fibrodystrophy, Münchmeier's disease, Sterner's tumor. This is the most rare form of myositis, which is characterized by frequent relapses.

   The disease is expressed in the appearance of ossification areas on the body. They are formed from the connective tissue of the intermuscular layers, tendons and ligaments.

   Disease symptoms:

   • The appearance of areas of swelling in the neck, back, shoulder muscles.
   • Areas prone to swelling. Their redness, hyperthermia, local soreness are often observed. An increase in body temperature is possible.
   • Over time, the swelling becomes less dense and the muscle hardens.
   • Not all areas are prone to ossification, but the disease, despite this, continues to progress.
   • As myositis develops, muscle atrophies join, a person's gait changes, his appearance suffers (his head is tilted forward, facial expressions are disturbed).

   • The disease leads to impaired chewing function, which leads to nutritional problems. Deformations of the chest occur, which contributes to the development of pneumonia and other pulmonary diseases.

   Ossificates can form in skeletal muscles, adipose tissue, tendons, ligaments, and joint capsules.

3. Symptoms of trophoneurological myositis. Ossifications for this type of disease are formed near the joints and bones throughout the skeleton. The only exceptions are the bones of the skull. The formations are characterized by symmetry, mainly they are located in the parts of the extremities adjacent to the body.

   Symptoms indicating the manifestation of a trophoneurological ossifying myositis are as follows:

   • Consolidation of tissues, their swelling.
   • Hyperemia of the zone of inflammation, local increase in body temperature.
   • The skin becomes glossy, inactive, or, on the contrary, thickens and hardens.
   • In the adjacent joints, mobility is impaired, their deformation is possible.

   The form of education can be varied: there are ossificates needle, lamellar, tubular, branched, in the form of arches, etc. Such formations do not become malignant and do not pose a threat to human life. Their regression is possible, or preservation in the form in which they appeared initially.

Causes of ossifying myositis

The causes of ossifying myositis also depend on the form of the disease:

• Causes of traumatic myositis ossification. This type of myositis occurs as a result of a single or chronic injury. It can be a dislocation, a fracture, a penetrating wound, a sprain, etc. As a result of an injury, a hemorrhage into the muscle tissue occurs. If the blood does not disintegrate completely in 10 days, then a site of ossification begins to gradually form at this place, which leads to the development of inflammation, and then a site of ossification.
• Causes of progressive myositis ossification. Scientists call heredity the leading cause of development, progressive ossifying myositis. It is believed that violations of the bone-forming function occurs even during the formation of the embryo. The disease makes its debut in childhood. Therefore, doctors are more and more confident asserting that genetic predisposition is the leading cause of the development of the disease. This form of myositis is quite rare and affects 1 in 2 million people.

• Causes of trophoneurological myositis ossifying. Scientists believe that the reason for the development of this type of myositis is shifts in the physiological processes responsible for muscle denervation. Presumably, these changes occur against the background of osteomyelitis, with bedsores, due to erysipelas. The role of acute cystitis with the formation of stones in the bladder is not excluded. If the lesion site is additionally injured, then the risk of developing trophoneurological myositis increases.

Treatment of ossifying myositis

Treatment of ossifying myositis is directly related to the etiology of the disease:

1. Treatment of traumatic ossifying traumatic myositis. There is strong evidence that this type of myositis does not respond in any way to conservative therapy. In this regard, doctors recommend a wait-and-see attitude. Wait until the end of the ossification process and determine if education affects the patient's quality of life. If the answer is yes, then it must be removed surgically.

   The indications for surgery are:

   • Compression of large nerves or blood vessels.
   • Dysfunction of the joints located in the immediate vicinity.
   • Chronic muscle trauma.

   As a rule, after removal of the ossificate, the disease does not relapse.

2. Treatment of progressive myositis ossification. With this type of myositis, surgical intervention is a direct contraindication, as it threatens with an even greater proliferation of ossificates.

   For the treatment of progressive ossifying myositis, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid is administered intravenously, biophosphates, potassium iodide, vitamins of group A, C, B, as well as biostimulants are used. Intramuscular injections are undesirable as they promote the formation of new lesions.

   From physiotherapeutic methods, electrophoresis with potassium-iodine, ultrasound, iodine-bromine baths, and a complex of exercise therapy are used.

   The prognosis for recovery is unfavorable, the life expectancy of such patients varies. Death occurs due to pulmonary infiltration, or due to exhaustion against the background of ossification of the swallowing and chewing muscles.

3. Treatment of trophoneurological ossifying myositis. The therapy of this form of myositis is closely intertwined with the therapy of nervous disorders. If the patient's quality of life is impaired as a result of the formation of ossificates, then they must be removed surgically. The indications for the operation are similar to those for traumatic myositis. The prognosis for life is favorable.

Author of the article: Alekseeva Maria Yurievna | Therapist

Education: From 2010 to 2016 Practitioner of the therapeutic hospital of the central medical-sanitary unit No. 21, city of elektrostal. Since 2016 she has been working in the diagnostic center No. 3.