Eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome: patient status 2-4 years after onset.

The clinical status of patients with the eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome (EMS) was studied 2-4 years after its description in 2 databases: (1) a structured review of 205 patients with EMS completed by 15 physicians 18-24 months after onset, which included symptoms, physical findings, laboratory data, and responses to treatments; (2) a self-report questionnaire completed by 344 patients with EMS 42-48 months after onset. Most patients continued to experience symptoms, but almost none experienced new signs of acute inflammation more than one year after onset of EMS. These databases, while presenting information concerning longterm outcomes of more patients with EMS than other reported sources, remain limited by patient selection and the absence of information concerning clinical symptoms before development of EMS.