title: Clinical, serologic and instrumental data of ten patients affected by sclerodermatous chronic graft versus host disease: similarities and differences in respect to systemic sclerosis.
abstract: Chronic graft versus host disease (cGVHD), the most common late complication of allogeneic haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), may present with sclerodermatous lesions resembling in some cases the cutaneous involvement of systemic sclerosis (SSc). Certain pathogenetic findings connect the two diseases. In this report we describe ten subjects affected by cGVHD who underwent the examinations routinely carried out to stage SSc patients. Demographic, clinical, serologic and instrumental data were recorded. These patients showed differences in appearance, extent and progression of the sclerodermatous lesions with greater involvement of the trunk and proximal part of the limbs than the extremities. In seven subjects ANA test was positive; scleroderma-associated autoantibodies were not detected in any of the cases. Moreover, typical organ involvement of SSc was not found. Only one patient developed Raynauds phenomenon after HSCT and only one patient demonstrated a nailfold videocapillaroscopic scleroderma pattern. Except for cutaneous involvement of cGVHD, that may resemble SSc, the clinical features of the two diseases are quite different, suggesting that the fibrotic process characterizing cGVHD and SSc has different etiologies and different initial pathobiologic events.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Medicina Clinica e Sperimentale, Università di Verona, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Barausse
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Caramaschi
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Scambi
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Benedetti
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sorio
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tinelli
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Tinazzi
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Benini
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Bambara
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Biasi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006086:Graft vs Host Disease / Q000175:diagnosis*; D018380:Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012595:Scleroderma, Systemic / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012871:Skin Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous