Brachio-cervical inflammatory myopathies: clinical, immune, and myopathologic features.

Objective: To characterize patients with inflammatory myopathies who present with weakness in the proximal regions of the arms.

Methods: Clinical, laboratory, and myopathologic features were evaluated in 10 patients, identified consecutively over 12 years, with inflammatory myopathies and weakness that was most severe in the proximal regions of the arms. The features of these brachio-cervical inflammatory myopathy (BCIM) syndromes were compared with those of other inflammatory and immune-mediated myopathies evaluated during the same period.