Which connective tissue disease is associated with dermatomyositis?

Dermatomyositis is a specific type of inflammatory myopathy characterized by muscle weakness and distinctive skin rashes. It is closely related to polymyositis, another form of myositis that also involves muscle inflammation but typically does not have the associated skin manifestations like dermatomyositis. Both conditions fall under the category of idiopathic inflammatory myopathies, and they often share similar pathways of muscle damage and immune dysregulation.

In the context of connective tissue diseases, dermatomyositis is often considered together with polymyositis because they can present with overlapping features, and patients may even exhibit symptoms of both conditions. Polymyositis is characterized primarily by symmetrical muscle weakness without the specific skin changes that define dermatomyositis. This close association highlights why polymyositis is identified as the correct response in the context of connective tissue diseases related to dermatomyositis.

While other connective tissue diseases such as Sjogren syndrome, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), and scleroderma may have their own associations and overlaps with certain autoimmune features, they do not directly relate to the primary presentation of either dermatomyositis or polymyositis in the same way that these two myositis conditions are related.