Abstract
Chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine are used to chronically treat certain rheumatologic diseases and are generally considered safe. We describe 2 patients with skeletal myopathy and fatal cardiomyopathy-uncommon and underrecognized adverse effects of these agents. Both patients developed arrhythmias and heart failure, and 1 patient had documented diaphragmatic involvement. Muscle specimens showed typical vacuolar myopathy (indicative of impaired autophagy) with myeloid bodies in both patients and curvilinear bodies in 1 patient. Antimalarial-induced cardiomyopathy should be considered in patients receiving these medications with otherwise unexplained muscle weakness or cardiac symptoms. Whether autophagy enhancers can be used to manage such myopathies merits investigation.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 363-366 |
Number of pages | 4 |
Journal | Journal of Clinical Rheumatology |
Volume | 18 |
Issue number | 7 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Oct 2012 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- autophagy
- cardiomyopathy
- hydroxychloroquine
- myopathy
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Rheumatology