Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Research Highlight
  • Published:

Inflammatory Myopathies

New classification criteria developed for research

Nature Reviews Rheumatology volume 13, page 694 (2017)Cite this article

Subjects

Access through your institution
Buy or subscribe

The International Myositis Assessment and Clinical Studies (IMACS) network was established in the late 1990s to develop assessment tools for myositis disease activity. In the course of that work, the need became apparent for reliable classification criteria that were data driven, useful for clinical trial enrolment and research purposes, and were inclusive of adult and paediatric patients. Now, the IMACS-led International Myositis Classification Criteria Project (IMCCP) presents new guidelines that are supported by the ACR and EULAR.

“The probability-score model gave the best sensitivity and specificity to distinguish myositis based on 16 variables, each given a specific weighted score,” explains corresponding author Ingrid Lundberg. The variables include age of onset, type and location of muscle weakness, skin manifestations, laboratory findings and muscle biopsy findings. “A sum of the score gives a probability of having myositis, where the cut-off score of 55% indicates 'probable' myositis,” Lundberg continues. For those individuals who reach a score of ≥90%, the classification is deemed 'definite'; patients in the probability score range of 50–55% are classed as having 'possible' myositis.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Access through your institution

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

References

  1. Lundberg, I. E. et al. 2017 European League Against Rheumatism/American College of Rheumatology classification criteria for adult and juvenile idiopathic inflammatory myopathies and their major subgroups. Arthritis Rheumatol. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/art.40320 (2017)

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chief Editor, Nature Reviews Disease Primers,

    Mina Razzak

Authors
  1. Mina Razzak
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Razzak, M. New classification criteria developed for research. Nat Rev Rheumatol 13, 694 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrrheum.2017.192

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrrheum.2017.192

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing