Inclusion body myositis and human immunodeficiency virus type 1: A new case report and literature review

Prevalence of muscle disease in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection is less than 1% of patients with acquired immune deficiency syndrome. Sporadic inclusion body myositis (IBM) is observed in a few cases of patients infected by retroviruses such as HIV-1. A Caucasian man was diagnosed with HIV when he was 30 years old. The viral load was undetectable and CD4 cell count was 600/mm3 when the diagnosis of inclusion body myositis was confirmed. Histological findings were typical of IBM. The treatment consisted of immunoglobulin therapy for three years without effect. Twenty-two patients were found in the English and French literature. They are younger than those who suffer from IBM without HIV (median age = 47, range: 30 to 59), and they are mostly men with considerable serum creatine kinase (CK) elevation (median CK level = 1322 IU/L, range: 465 to 10270), most of them were treated with Zidovudine.