Hydroxyurea induced dermatomyositis-like eruption

Abstract

Medication-induced dermatomyositis (DM) is rare, but a recent review highlighted hydroxyurea (HU) as the most common inciting agent. To aid diagnosis, HU-induced DM-like eruption (HU DM-LE) forms a distinct dermopathy where the typical cutaneous features of DM are without systemic involvement and co-exist with other HU-induced cutaneous findings such as severe xerosis, atrophy, stomatitis, cutaneous and mucosal ulceration and melanonychia. On cessation of HU the DM-LE clears avoiding unnecessary immunosuppression and demonstrating the importance of consideration of medication aetiology in DM presentations. We present a case report and review of the literature.