Abstract

An elderly woman with chronic ulcerative colitis who developed proximal muscle weakness, increased serum creatine phosphokinase activity, and histological and electromyographic abnormalities characteristic of polymyositis is described. Treatment with corticosteroids and 5-acetylsalicylic acid was followed by a remission in bowel symptoms, improvement in muscle power, and reversal of electromyographic changes. An autoimmune link between the two disorders seems likely.