Kawashima et al. in 2001 determined IL-18 serum levels in 16 patients with AOSD, 34 with RA, 33 with SLE, 19 with systemic sclerosis (SSc), 21 with polymyositis/dermatomyositis, 28 with SS and in 53 healthy controls demonstrating, as we did in the present report, that IL-18 serum concentrations are higher in AOSD than in all the other conditions [19]. Here, IL18 is linked to dermatomyositis.