Dermatomyositis in womenMalinić, Marija (Avtor) Reljić, Vesna (Avtor) clinical characteristicsdermatomyositismalignancymuscle weaknessmyopathyIntroduction: Dermatomyositis is an inflammatory disease that affects the skin and skeletal muscles, with variants including clinically amyopathic dermatomyositis and malignancy-associated dermatomyositis. Methods: This research analyzes the characteristics of dermatomyositis in women. A retrospective cross-sectional study evaluated clinical presentation, muscle involvement, immunological markers, association with malignancy, complications, and mortality in females during a 15-year follow-up at a tertiary dermatology center. Results: Thirty women (mean age 63.6 ± 11.6 years) were analyzed. The most common skin manifestations were the V-sign (73.3%), followed by a heliotrope rash and Gottron’s papules (70.0% each). Periungual erythema appeared in 50.0%, and the shawl sign in 46.7%. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis linked the V-sign with age ≥ 62.5 years (area under the curve = 0.75) and periungual erythema with age ≤ 68.5 (area under the curve = 0.76). Muscle weakness was present in 63.3% of cases. Myositisassociated autoantibodies and myositis-specific autoantibodies were positive in 53.3%. Seven patients (23.3%) had malignancyassociated dermatomyositis, including ovarian, breast, endometrial, lung, gastric, and nasopharyngeal cancers. Conclusions: The V-sign, a heliotrope rash, and Gottron’s papules were the most common skin findings. Muscle involvement affected nearly two-thirds of patients. Malignancy was detected in almost a quarter of patients, emphasizing the need for thorough evaluation and early diagnosis, especially in cancer-associated cases.Združenje slovenskih dermatovenerologov20252026-06-09 08:38:18Neznano29912UDK: 616.5-006ISSN pri članku: 1318-4458COBISS_ID: 276616195slNa spletni strani revije navedeno: Acta Dermatovenerologica Alpina, Pannonica et Adriatica (ISSN 1318-4458) is an open access medical journal published quarterly by the Association of Slovenian Dermatovenerologists (https://acta-apa.mf.uni-lj.si/index.php); Authors publishing in our journal retain copyright of their work under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0). This license allows unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction of the work in any medium, provided the original author(s) and copyright holder(s) are appropriately credited, and the original publication in the journal is properly cited, following established academic practices (https://acta-apa.mf.uni-lj.si/submissions.php).