Abstract
Idiopathic inflammatory myopathies, such as dermatomyositis, are implicated as possible risk factors for venous thromboembolism. We herein report the first known case of a 50-year-old woman who presented to our hospital with a fever, chest pain, and elevated creatine kinase levels and was ultimately diagnosed with pulmonary embolism and anti-OJ antibody-positive antisynthetase myopathy. Dermatomyositis may increase the risk of venous thromboembolism, including pulmonary embolism. However, only a few cases of pulmonary embolism developing before the diagnosis of inflammatory myositis have been reported. Idiopathic inflammatory myopathy should be considered as a differential diagnosis when creatine kinase levels are elevated in patients with pulmonary embolism.