Culpepper R C, Williams R G, Mease P J, Koepsell T D, Kobayashi J M
School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle.
Ann Intern Med. 1991 Sep 15;115(6):437-42. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-115-6-437.
To describe the natural history and disease progression of the eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome and to assess the therapeutic effects of orally administered steroids on the disorder as of October 1990.
Case-series analysis. A cohort of 45 patients with the eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome was followed prospectively by periodic telephone interviews and medical examinations for an average of 14 months after onset of illness.
Washington state.
The cases of 47 patients were reported to the Washington State Department of Health from 1 July to 12 December 1989. Two patients were unavailable for follow-up, and the remaining 45 completed the study.
Patients were predominantly non-Hispanic white women (87%) with an average age of 49 years. Symptoms typically progressed from early onset of myalgia and fatigue to later development of neurologic and scleroderma-like skin changes. Six (13%) patients recovered completely within 2 to 5 months of symptom onset. After 14 months of illness, over half of the patients who initially presented with myalgia, fatigue, or scleroderma-like skin changes remained symptomatic. The average severity of each major symptom was measured using interviews and patient self-reports and has improved subjectively by at least 40%. Statistical analyses showed no significant difference in long-term symptom duration or severity between patients treated and those not treated with prednisone.
The eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome is a long-term illness characterized by progressive improvement during the first 25 weeks after symptom onset, followed by a protracted phase of symptom resolution. We could not show a clear-cut benefit of prednisone in reducing the long-term severity or duration of the disease.
描述嗜酸性粒细胞增多性肌痛综合征的自然病史和疾病进展，并评估截至1990年10月口服类固醇对该疾病的治疗效果。
病例系列分析。对45例嗜酸性粒细胞增多性肌痛综合征患者进行前瞻性研究，在发病后平均14个月期间通过定期电话访谈和医学检查进行随访。
华盛顿州。
1989年7月1日至12月12日向华盛顿州卫生部报告了47例患者的病例。2例患者无法进行随访，其余45例完成了研究。
患者主要为非西班牙裔白人女性（87%），平均年龄49岁。症状通常从早期的肌痛和疲劳发展为后期的神经病变和硬皮病样皮肤改变。6例（13%）患者在症状出现后2至5个月内完全康复。患病14个月后，最初出现肌痛、疲劳或硬皮病样皮肤改变的患者中，超过一半仍有症状。使用访谈和患者自我报告测量每种主要症状的平均严重程度，主观上至少改善了40%。统计分析显示，接受泼尼松治疗和未接受治疗的患者在长期症状持续时间或严重程度上没有显著差异。
嗜酸性粒细胞增多性肌痛综合征是一种长期疾病，其特征是症状出现后的前25周内逐渐改善，随后是症状缓解的漫长阶段。我们未能显示泼尼松在降低疾病的长期严重程度或持续时间方面有明显益处。
