Table of Contents What Is Scleroderma? What Are the Different Types of Scleroderma? What Causes Scleroderma? Who Gets Scleroderma? How Can Scleroderma Affect My Life? Symptoms of Scleroderma What Other Conditions Can Look Like Scleroderma? Scleroderma Treatment How Can I Play a Role in My Health Care? Scleroderma Research More Questions? Keeping on Top of Your Condition

What Other Conditions Can Look Like Scleroderma?

Symptoms similar to symptoms of scleroderma can occur with a number of other diseases. Here are some of the most common scleroderma lookalikes:

• Eosinophilic fasciitis (EF) (EE-oh-SIN-oh-FIL-ik fa-shi-EYE-tis): a disease that involves the fascia (FA-shuh), the thin connective tissue around the muscles, particularly those of the forearms, arms, legs, and trunk. EF causes the muscles to become encased in collagen, the fibrous protein that makes up tissue such as the skin and tendons. Permanent shortening of the muscles and tendons, called contractures, may develop, sometimes causing disfigurement and problems with joint motion and function. EF may begin after hard physical exertion. The disease usually fades away after several years, but people sometimes have relapses. Although the upper layers of the skin are not thickened in EF, the thickened fascia may cause the skin to look somewhat like the tight, hard skin of scleroderma. A skin biopsy easily distinguishes between the two.
  
  
• Undifferentiated connective tissue disease (UCTD): a diagnosis for patients who have some signs and symptoms of various related diseases, but not enough symptoms of any one disease to make a definite diagnosis. In other words, their condition hasn't "differentiated" into a particular connective tissue disease. In time, UCTD can go in one of three directions: it can change into a systemic disease such as systemic sclerosis, systemic lupus erythematosus, or rheumatoid arthritis; it can remain undifferentiated; or it can improve spontaneously.
  
  
• Overlap syndromes: a disease combination in which patients have symptoms and lab findings characteristic of two or more conditions.
  

At other times, symptoms resembling those of scleroderma can be the result of an unrelated disease or condition. For example:

• Skin thickening on the fingers and hands also appears with diabetes, mycosis fungoides, amyloidosis, and adult celiac disease. It can also result from hand trauma.
  
  
• Generalized skin thickening may occur with scleromyxedema, graft-versus-host disease, porphyria cutanea tarda, and human adjuvant disease.
  
  
• Internal organ damage, similar to that seen in systemic sclerosis, may instead be related to primary pulmonary hypertension, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, or collagenous colitis.
  
  
• Raynaud's phenomenon also appears with atherosclerosis or systemic lupus erythematosus or in the absence of underlying disease.
  

An explanation of most of these other diseases is beyond the scope of this booklet (for brief definitions, see the glossary). What's important to understand, however, is that scleroderma isn't always easy to diagnose; it may take time for you and your doctor to establish a diagnosis. And while having a definite diagnosis may be helpful, knowing the precise form of your disease is not needed to receive proper treatment.