Dermatomyositis with multiple skin ulcers showing vasculitis and membrano-cystic lesion.

A 63-year-old woman with dermatomyositis (DM) developed multiple punched-out ulcers of the skin. She had not only a past history of gastric cancer 10 years prior to the onset of DM, but also a familial history of cancer. A skin biopsy from one of the ulcers revealed both vasculitis and membrano-cystic lesion in the same specimen. She died of interstitial pneumonitis one year after the onset of DM. Vasculitis and membrano-cystic lesion may be an important marker of a poor prognosis in DM.