Dermatomyositis Following Penicillin Injections

Abstract

In the past decade there has been increased reporting on the collagen diseases. This seems to coincide, temporally, with the administration of newer therapeutic agents; specifically, the sulfonamides and antibiotics. Destructive vascular lesions have been found in experimental animals and in man on the basis of a sensitivity reaction to these substances. Two cases of a prolonged reaction to penicillin are described. In 1 woman there was a burning type of skin rash, a delirious reaction, nystagmus and unsteadiness of gait. In the other there was a similar rash, joint pains and 1 delirious episode. In a woman with dermato-myositis there was an exacerbation in her symptoms after penicillin administration. Muscle and skin biopsies were positive for dermatomyositis. Steroid therapy is helpful in relief from symptoms. In each case the time relationship between administration of the antibiotic with the appearance of collagen disease seemed to point clearly to the antibiotic; penicillin, as the inciting or exacerbating agent in production of the dermatomyositis.