Risk of Early Infection in Idiopathic Inflammatory Myopathies: Cluster Analysis Based on Clinical Features and Biomarkers

Patients with idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIMs), referred to as myositis, are prone to infectious complications, which hinder the treatment of the disease and worsen the outcome of patients. The purpose of this study was to explore the different types of infectious complications in patients with myositis and to determine the predisposing factors for clinical reference. A retrospective study was conducted on 66 patients with IIM who were divided into different subpopulations by an unsupervised analysis of their clinical manifestations, laboratory features, and autoantibody characteristics. Combined with the incidence of infectious complications, the types of infectious pathogens and the sites of infection, the characteristics of infection, and susceptibility factors were explored. Three clusters with significantly different clinical characteristics and coinfection rates were identified (76.2% vs. 41.6% vs. 36.4%, p = 0.0139). Cluster 1 (n = 12) had a moderate risk of infection, with an infection rate of 41.6%. The patients in cluster 1 had a high probability of positive mechanic’s hands, periungual erythema, anti-Ro52 antibody, and anti-Jo1 antibody. CD3 and CD4 were the highest among the three groups. Cluster 2 (n = 21) had a high risk of infection, and the incidence of infection was 76.2%. Almost all patients in this cluster had a rash, prominent clinical symptoms, and decreased WBC, PMN, LYM, CD3, and CD4 counts. Cluster 3 (n = 33) had a low risk of infection, with an infection rate of 36.4%. Compared with the other two clusters, cluster 3 (n = 33) lacked a typical rash but had a high ANA-positive rate. The patients in cluster 1 and cluster 3 were mainly infected by viruses, followed by bacterial infections. In cluster 2 patients, bacterial infections were the most prevalent. Fungal and Pneumocystis carinii were common causes of cluster 2 and 3 infections. In addition, the patients within a cluster often have a single infection, and pulmonary infections are the most common. We clustered the patients with IIM complicated with infection into three different types by their clinical symptoms and found that there were differences in the infection risk and infection types among the different cluster groups.