Poikilodermatomyositis

It is the purpose of this paper to present a case of poikilodermatomyositis with a complete postmortem examination, as such reports are relatively rare, especially in the American literature. In 1906 G. Petges and Cléjat¹described a disease which they termed "atrophic sclerosis of the skin and generalized myositis." In 1929, after observing additional cases and noting similarities to the cutaneous lesions described by Jacobi²and designated "poikilodermia atrophicans vascularis," G. Petges³gave the condition the name "poikilodermatomyositis." The subject of the poikilodermas in general and of poikilodermatomyositis in particular has been thoroughly reviewed by G. Petges and A. Petges.⁴They distinguished three forms of poikiloderma: (1) a purely cutaneous form; (2) poikilodermatomyositis, a form associated with generalized myositis, and (3) poikilodermatomyositis accompanied by subcutaneous calcareous concretions. In their article Petges and Petges recorded 29 reported instances of poikilodermatomyositis. In 4 of these the condition was