14-Apr-06

A number of classification criteria for idiopathic inflammatory myopathies and the major subgroups have been proposed over the last three decades. Unfortunately, most of these have been based on clinical impressions rather than data analyses, and none have been fully tested for sensitivity or specificity using appropriately powered studies against all the appropriate disease confounders.

Realizing that such differences in criteria by various specialties threaten to create growing difficulties in comparing studies and clinical trials in the future, a number of experts in the field have joined together to initiate a new large, multicentered and multispecialty investigation to meet this need. This effort is called the International Myositis Classification Criteria Project and more information about it is available at https://dir-apps.niehs.nih.gov/imacs/classificationcriteria.cfm.

IMACS fully supports this effort and requests those interested to contact the Lead Investigator below to be approved as a participant in this study:

Ingrid Lundberg, M.D., Ph.D.

Tel 011-46-8-5177-3080
[email protected]