Distal-symmetric focal inflammatory myopathy distinct from focal myositis and polymyositis.

We describe an inflammatory myopathy that was symmetrically restricted to both gastrocnemius muscles in a young man. Histopathological findings were typical for polymyositis, but there were neither signs of generalization nor muscle weakness and wasting. This condition was highly sensitive to steroids and has been kept in remission for more than a year using azathioprine. Our findings add another entity to the spectrum of spatially restricted inflammatory myopathies. Muscle Nerve 40: 309-312, 2009.