Myositis Disease Activity Assessment Tool (Mitax)

MYOSITIS DISEASE ACTIVITY ASSESSMENT TOOL - 2005

Patient ID:______Date of Birth: ______

Assessor:______DateAssessed:______

CONSTITUTIONAL DISEASE ACTIVITY

1. Pyrexia – documented fever > 38° C0 1 2 3 4 NA

2. Weight loss – unintentional > 5%0 1 2 3 4 NA

3. Fatigue/malaise/lethargy:0 1 2 3 4 NA

Absent Max

│ │ _ _ │

Max eg severe fatigue or malaise resulting in being bed bound and inability to perform self care

CUTANEOUS DISEASE ACTIVITY

4.DM cutaneous ulceration (to dermis or deeper) 0 1 2 3 4 NA

5. Erythroderma (generalized and pronounced erythema involving both sun-exposed and non-exposed skin) 0 1 2 3 4 NA

6. Panniculitis 0 1 2 3 4 NA

7. Erythematous rashes:

a) with secondary changes eg accompanied by erosions, vesiculobullous change or necrosis 0 1 2 3 4 NA

b) without secondary changes 0 1 2 3 4 NA

8. Heliotrope rash 0 1 2 3 4 NA

9. Gottron’s papules/sign 0 1 2 3 4 NA

10. Periungual capillary changes 0 1 2 3 4 NA

11. Alopecia –a) diffuse hair lossOR 0 1 2 3 4 NA b) focal patchy with erythema 0 1 2 3 4 NA

12. Mechanics hands 0 1 2 3 4 NA

Absent Max

│ │ _ _ │

Max eg Ulceration to muscle, tendon

or bone; extensive erythroderma

SKELETAL DISEASE ACTIVITY

13. Arthritis

a) Severe active inflammatory polyarthritis OR 0 1 2 3 4 NA

b) Moderately active inflammatory arthritis OR 0 1 2 3 4 NA

c) Mild arthritis 0 1 2 3 4 NA

14. Arthralgia 0 1 2 3 4 NA

Absent Max

│ │ _ │

Max eg. severe arthritis with extreme loss

of function (bedridden, inability for self care)

GASTROINTESTINAL DISEASE ACTIVITY

15. Dysphagia:

a) Moderate/severe dysphagia OR0 1 2 3 4 NA

b) Mild dysphagia0 1 2 3 4 NA

16. Abdominal pain due to the myositis disease process:

a) Severe OR0 1 2 3 4 NA

b) Moderate OR0 1 2 3 4 NA

c) Mild0 1 2 3 4 NA

Absent Max

│ │ _ _ │

Max eg. Major abdominal crisis

requiring surgery or intensive care

PULMONARY DISEASE ACTIVITY

17. Respiratory muscle weakness without interstitial lung disease:

a) Dyspnea at rest OR 0 1 2 3 4 NA

b) Dyspnea on exertion 0 1 2 3 4 NA

18. Active reversible interstitial lung disease (ILD)(i.e. not just ventilatoryabnormalities due to pulmonary fibrosis): Please score each item (a, b and c); read glossary for PFT scoringguidelines.

a)Dyspnea or cough due to ILD 0 1 2 3 4 NA

b) Parenchymal abnormalities on CXR or HRCT and/or ground-glass

shadowing (using last available measure) 0 1 2 3 4 NA

c) PFTs – 10% change in FVC or DLCO (using last available

measure) 0 1 2 3 4 NA

19.Dysphonia: a) Moderate to severe OR 0 1 2 3 4 NA

b) Mild 0 1 2 3 4 NA

Absent Max

│ │ _ _ │

Max eg. Active interstial lung disease or respiratory

muscle weakness requiring ventilatory support

CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE ACTIVITY

20. Symptomatic pericarditis 0 1 2 3 4 NA

21. Symptomatic myocarditis 0 1 2 3 4 NA

22. Arrhythmia

a) Severe arrhythmiaOR 0 1 2 3 4 NA

b) Other arrhythmia, except sinus tachycardia 0 1 2 3 4 NA

23. Sinus tachycardia 0 1 2 3 4 NA

Absent Max

│ ___ _ │ __ │

Max eg. Myocarditis or pericarditis or severe arrhythmia requiring intensive unit care

OTHER DISEASEACTIVITY

24.Specify: ______0 1 2 3 4 NA

Absent Max

│ _ _ │ __ _ │

Extreme disease activity with major impact on function

PHYSICIANS EXTRAMUSCULAR GLOBAL ASSESSMENT

Overall evaluation for the totality of disease activity in all extramuscular

systems(excluding muscle disease activity)

Absent Max

│ │ _ _ │

MUSCLE DISEASE ACTIVITY

25. Myositis:

a) Severe muscle inflammationOR 0 1 2 3 4 NA

b) Moderate muscle inflammationOR 0 1 2 3 4 NA

c) Mild muscle inflammation 0 1 2 3 4 NA

26. Myalgia 0 1 2 3 4 NA

Absent Max

│ │ _ _ │

Max eg. severe muscle weakness resulting in being

bed bound and an inability to perform self care

PHYSICIANS GLOBAL ASSESSMENT

Overall evaluation for the totality of disease activity in ALL systems

(includingmuscle)

Absent Max

│ │ _ _ │

CPK_CPK______

ALT/LDH/Aldolase______

CPK______

ALT/LDH/Aldolase______

Glossary for the myositis disease activity assessment

CONSTITUTIONAL

1. Pyrexia: refers to a documented fever in excess of 38°C.
2. Weight loss: unintentional weight loss of 5% or more in body weight.
3. Fatigue: sufficiently severe to interfere with normal daily activities not attributable to another cause.

CUTANEOUS DISEASE ACTIVITY

1. DM cutaneous ulceration: extensive injury to dermis or deeper due to the disease process.
2. Erythroderma: This is usually an extreme state resulting in confluent erythema involving both sun-exposed and non sun-exposed skin. The skin is conspicuously bright red, hot and indurated. Involves >50% of body surface area.
3. Panniculitis: tender erythematous or violaceous nodules or depressions due to inflammation in the subcutaneous fat.
4. Erythematous rashes: malar rash, facial erythema, linear extensor erythema, V and shawl-sign rash, erythema in a periungual distribution, and non sun-exposed erythema.

Secondary change: erosions, vesiculobullous change or necrosis: epidermal necrosis manifesting as a superficial bullous lesion whose roof is gray in color from epidermal cell death, erosions, or scale/crusts, sitting on an erythematous base. These lesions are painful when acute.

1. Heliotrope rash: purple, lilac-colored or erythematous patches over eyelids or in a periorbital distribution, often associated with periorbital edema.
2. Gottron's papules or sign: erythematous to violaceous papules, plaques or macules (sign) over extensor surfaces of joints, which are sometimes scaly.
3. Periungual capillary changes: dilatation of periungual capillaries which may be accompanied by vessel dropout and which is visible by naked eye examination or by using additional magnification with otoscopy.
4. Alopecia:

a) Diffuse: non scarring, non-erythematous alopecia

b) Focal alopecia with erythema (i.e. scalp rash of

dermatomyositis).

1. Mechanic's hands: hyperkeratosis and scaling with frequent fissuring and cracking along the lateral and palmar aspects of the fingers.

SKELETAL DISEASE ACTIVITY

1. Arthritis: active joint inflammation marked by tenderness,

warmth or swelling.

a)Severe inflammatory polyarthritis: involvement of 2 or more joints with clinically significant loss of the functional range of movement and requiring assistance with activities of daily living.

b) Moderate inflammatory arthritis: some loss of functional range of movement of one or more involved joints, but not requiring assistance with activities of daily living.

c) Mild arthritis: neither loss of range of motion nor impaired activities of daily living.

14.Arthralgia: joint pain with stiffness due to inflammatory disease

GASTROINTESTINAL DISEASE ACTIVITY

15.Dysphagia: difficulty swallowing, chewing or eating documented by clinical symptoms or swallow examination, manometry, or other objective approaches.

If dysphagia has been stable and unchanged and is present for > 6 months this is most likely to represent a damage item and should be scored as such unless there is good evidence of reversibility.

a)Severe dysphagia: accompanied by aspiration pneumonia, nasal regurgitation, or difficulty in protecting the airway;

b) Moderate dysphagia: frequent or moderate symptomatic

difficulty swallowing, chewing or eating.

c) Mild dysphagia: occasional dysphagia or asymptomatic dysphagia noted on objective testing; can eat regular diet.

16.Abdominal pain: Pain in the abdominal area due to the myositis disease process

a)Severe abdominal pain: requiring hospitalization, treatment, or bowel rest with nothing per oral route (NPO)

b) Moderate abdominal pain: requiring treatment, but not hospitalization or NPO

c) Mild abdominal pain: no intervention required and does not interfere with function.

PULMONARY DISEASE ACTIVITY

17.Respiratory muscle weakness without interstitial lung disease: Shortness of breath, dyspnea worsened with exertion or hypoventilation on pulmonary function testing.

18.Active reversibleinterstitial lung disease (ILD): Previously documented by radiography or pathology.

-In patients with new or significant deterioration in symptoms a complete evaluation with PFTs and radiography (CXR or HRCT) is required. If further investigation is required to elucidate cause of symptoms then defer scoring until results available.

-In all other cases the last measurement should be used even if longer than 4 weeks (but within last 6 months for PFTs). (If there has been no significant change since last visit - score 2. If results normalize then this would score 0 i.e. not present). If a pt is clinically better but no PFTs are done, it would be reasonable to score as "1”.

Any percentage change in PFTs is based on change in the absolute value. As a guide a significant change in PFT is defined as 10% change in FVC (minimum 200 ml) or 15% in DLCO (minimum 3ml/min/mmHg). (A change of 10% in DLCO is considered a marginal change) However, in some patients smaller changes may be suggestive of worsening disease in the context of worsening symptoms or radiography.

19.Dysphonia: alteration in voice quality, resonance, articulation or speech rate from normal.

a) Moderate to severe dysphonia: persistent voice symptoms or those that interfere with communication

b) Mild dysphonia: intermittent voice symptoms not interfering with communication

CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE ACTIVITY

20. Pericarditis: Inflammation of the pericardium

21.Myocarditis: Inflammation of the myocardium defined clinically or with echocardiographic evidence.

22.Arrhythmia: clinical or electrocardiographic evidence of irregular heart beats

a) Severe arrhythmia: symptomatic andrequiring therapy or other intervention, excluding sinus tachycardia.

b) Other cardiac arrhythmias: symptomatic, but not requiring intervention, excluding sinus tachycardia.

23.Sinus tachycardia: > 100 beats per minute

OTHER DISEASE ACTIVITY

24. Specify feature that is felt to be due to the myositis disease process. Then on the VAS rate the severity of this feature: ‘max’ would be severe involvement with requirement for intensive care in the case of a systemic feature, or extensive/generalized cutaneous involvement.

MUSCLE DISEASE ACTIVITY

25.Myositis: Muscle inflammation based upon manual muscle strength testing, functional assessments, laboratory or other testing. In patients with stable muscle atrophy and damage a judgement needs to be made for the purpose of this assessment so that only weakness attributable to activity is scored.

a)Severe muscle inflammation - requiring assistance with activities of daily living and severe loss of function

b) Moderate muscle inflammation - not requiring assistance with activities of daily living with some loss of function.

c) Mild muscle inflammation - little or nor loss of function

26. Myalgia: muscle pain or tenderness

MYOSITIS DISEASE ACTIVITY ASSESSMENT TOOL - 2005

This is a combined tool that captures the physician’s assessment of disease activity of various organ systems via the

MYOSITIS INTENTION TO TREAT ACTIVITY INDEX (MITAX)

and via the

MYOSITIS DISEASE ACTIVITY ASSESSMENT VISUAL ANALOGUE SCALES (MYOACT)

MYOSITIS DISEASE ACTIVITY ASSESSMENT VISUAL ANALOGUE SCALES (MYOACT)

(Modified Vasculitis Activity Index, QE Whiting-O'Keefe et al. 1999, Arthritis and Rheumatism 42: 2365-71)

Please assess the following systems using your expert clinical judgement of how active the patient’s disease has been WITHIN THE PAST FOUR WEEKS. Disease activity is defined as potentially reversible clinically evident pathology or physiology resulting from the myositis disease process. Clinical findings known or suspected to be due to another disease process or due to therapy should not be considered in this evaluation. Please rate your overall assessment of the ongoing current disease activity for each of the systems below by drawing a vertical mark on the 10-cm. line for each system according to the following scale: left end of line = no evidence of disease activity, midpoint of line = moderate disease activity, and right end of line = extreme or maximum disease activity. Please write in NA if the system cannot be assessed. Under each organ system is listed a set of clinical and laboratory findings that you should assess in order to determine the VAS disease activity score for each organ system.

MYOACT Scoring System: The proposed scoring system for the MYOACT is the sum of the 10 cm visual analogue scale scores for each of the six individual organ systems (CONSTITUTIONAL, CUTANEOUS, SKELETAL, GASTROINTESTINAL, PULMONARY, CARDIAC) and divided by the total possible score (range = 0 - 60). If one or more organ systems were not assessed, the resulting score would be divided by the maximum possible score from those assessed items. The categories of OTHER DISEASE ACTIVITY, global extraskeletal muscle, muscle and GLOBAL disEASE ACTIVITY are not included in the MYOACT score but are scored separately.

MYOSITIS INTENTION TO TREAT ACTIVITY INDEX (MITAX)

(Modified BILAG Approach, EM Hay et al., 1993, Q J Med 86: 447-58)

The clinical features recorded are based upon:

a)the presence of clinical features at this time or symptoms within the previous four weeks

b)the presumption that the feature is due to the myositis syndrome disease process

For each item of the MITAX, please choose (circle one choice) among the following options:

0 -if the feature is not present

1 -if the feature is improving -clinically significant improvement in the last 4 weeks over the previous 4 weeks

2-if the feature is the same - manifestations that have been present for the last 4 weeks and the

previous 4 weeks without significant improvementor deterioration

3 -if the feature is worse - clinically significant deterioration over the last 4 weeks compared to the previous 4 weeks

4- if the feature is new - new in the last 4 weeks (compared to the previous 4 weeks)

NA-if the feature cannot be assessed

MITAX Scoring System:

The scoring system is based primarily on the physician’s intention to treat (Categories A – E). In some cases, a patient may meet the clinical manifestations of a particularly category, but the treatment does not match the intention to treat of that particular category; in those cases, the category matching the clinical symptoms should be marked. If more than one clinical symptom is present within a system, and different categories would be scored for each, mark the category that is most severe.

CATEGORY A
A = Active
(9 points) / Denotes disease thought to be sufficiently active to require disease-modifying treatment:
[High dose daily corticosteroids alone or in combination with high doses of other
immunosuppressives or intravenous gammaglobulin (IVIG)]
CATEGORY B
B = Beware
(3 points) / Denotes disease that is less active than in “A”; reversible problems requiring moderate
doses of corticosteroids, other immunosuppressive agents or use of antimalarials,
non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), topical steroids. [If immunosuppressives or IVIG were used to treat signs and symptoms of Category A, the doses of at least one agent would be reduced from levels required in category A.]
CATEGORY C
C = Contentment
(1 point) / Indicates stable mild disease, requiring only symptomatic therapy, such that
immunosuppressive therapy can be reduced below the level of category B.
[Doses of corticosteroids, other immunosuppressive agents, antimalarials, NSAIDs or
symptomatic therapies are likely to be low.]
CATEGORY D
D = Discount
(0 points) / System previously affected but currently inactive and no medication is required
(i.e., in remission)
CATEGORY E
E = No evidence of this system being active now or previously
(0 points) / Indicates system never involved

Each organ system of the MITAX is scored by selecting the highest category selected for any of the individual items under that organ system (i.e., the worse item carries the score for the organ system). The proposed scoring system for the MITAX is the sum of the worst category scores for each of the seven individual organ systems (CONSTITUTIONAL, CUTANEOUS, SKELETAL, GASTROINTESTINAL, PULMONARY, CARDIAC, MUSCLE) divided by the maximum possible score (range = 1 - 63). If one or more organ systems were not assessed, the score would be calculated by dividing the sum by the maximum possible score of the assessed organ systems. The categories of OTHER DISEASE ACTIVITY, global extraskeletal muscle and the GLOBAL disEASE ACTIVITY are not included in the MITAX score but are scored separately.

CATEGORY A
A = Active
(9 points) / CATEGORY B
B = Beware
(3 points) / CATEGORY C
C = Contentment
(1 point) / CATEGORY D
D = Discount
(0 points) / CATEGORY E
E = No evidence
(0 points)
Constitutional Disease Activity / Pyrexia scoring 2, 3 or 4
plus two other clinical feature scoring > 1:
-Unintentional weight loss
-Fatigue/malaise/lethargy / Any one clinical feature
scoring 2, 3 or 4 / Any one clinical feature scoring 1 / No current activity but known to have been active in the past.
- ie remission / No current or previous activity.
Cutaneous Disease ActIvity / Any one of the following scoring 2, 3 or 4:
-Cutaneous ulceration
-Erythroderma
-Erythematous rashes with secondary changes eg. accompanied by vesiculobullous or erosive changes or necrosis
-Panniculitis / 1) Any Category A clinical feature scoring 1
OR
2) Any one of the following scoring
2, 3 or 4:
-Erythematous rashes without secondary changes
-Heliotrope rash
-Gottron’s papules or sign
-Periungual capillary changes
-Alopecia: diffuse
-Mechanic’s hands / 1) Any Category B clinical feature scoring 1
or
2) Alopecia: focal - scoring 1, 2, 3 or 4 / No current activity but known to have been active in the past.
- ie remission / No current or previous activity.
Skeletal Disease Activity / Severe inflammatory polyarthritis
scoring 2, 3 or 4 / 1) Severe inflammatory polyarthritis scoring 1
OR
2) Moderate inflammatory arthritis scoring 2, 3 or 4 / 1) Any category B clinical feature scoring 1
OR
2) Any one of the following scoring 1, 2, 3 or 4:
-Mild arthritis
-Arthralgia / No current activity but known to have been active in the past.
- ie remission / No current or previous activity.
Gastrointestinal Disease Activity / Any one of the following scoring 2, 3 or 4:
-Moderate to severe dysphagia
-Severe abdominal pain / 1) Any Category A clinical feature scoring 1
OR
2) Any one of the following scoring
2, 3 or 4
-Moderate abdominal pain
-Mild dysphagia / 1) Any Category B clinical feature scoring 1
OR
2) Mild abdominal pain scoring 1, 2, 3 or 4 / No current activity but known to have been active in the past.
- ie remission / No current or previous activity
CATEGORY A
A = Active
(9 points) / CATEGORY B
B = Beware
(3 points) / CATEGORY C
C = Contentment
(1 point) / CATEGORY D
D = Discount
(0 points) / CATEGORY E
E = No evidence
(0 points)
Pulmonary Disease / 1)Ventilatory abnormalities due to muscle weakness without primary lung disease- dyspnea at rest
OR
2)Active ILD scoring 3 (worse) or 4 (new) in at least two of the following:
a) dyspnea or cough due to ILD
b)parenchymal abnormalities on CXR or HRCT and/or ground glass-shadowing
c) PFTs - minimum of 10% change in FVC or DLCO / 1) Ventilatory abnormalities due to muscle weakness without primary lung disease - Dyspnea on exertion
2) Active ILD scoring 2 (same) in at least two of the following (or scoring 1 or 3 in only one category with 2 in others)
a) dyspnea or cough due to ILD
b)parenchymal abnormalities on CXR or HRCT and/or ground glass-shadowing
c) PFTs - 10% change in TLC/FVC or 10% in DLCO
3)Moderate to severe dysphonia / 1) Active ILD scoring 1 ( ie improvement) in at least two of the following:
a) dyspnea or cough due to ILD
b)parenchymal abnormalities on CXR or HRCT and/or ground glass-shadowing
c) PFTs - 10% change in TLC/FVC or 10% in DLCO
2)Mild dysphonia / No current activity but known to have been active in the past
- ie remission / No current or previous activity
The respiratory aspect of this tool has been validated based scoring items a-c inclusive ie using subjective and objective measures in the clinic setting. In a clinical trial when PFTs and imaging may only be performed at baseline and only symptoms may be recorded at follow-up visits then scoring will based on a stable state of symptoms for two consecutive visits.
Cardiovascular Disease Activity / Any one of the following scoring 2, 3 or 4
-Myocarditis/pericarditis
-Severe cardiac arrhythmia / 1) Any Category A clinical feature scoring 1
OR
2) Any one of the following scoring
2, 3 or 4:
-Mild/moderate cardiac arrhythmia (except sinus tachycardia) / 1) Any Category B clinical feature scoring scoring 1