Morphea or localized scleroderma is a distinctive inflammatory disease that leads to sclerosis of the skin and subcutaneous tissues. It comprises a number of subtypes differentiated according to their clinical presentation and the structure of the skin and underlying tissues involved in the fibrotic process. However, classification is difficult because the boundaries between the different types...

Morphea, also known as localized scleroderma is a chronic disease of unknown etiology, characterized by fibrous deposition and obliteration of vessels in the skin. This disease has a wide clinical spectrum, ranging from mild hyperpigmented plaques to severe, invalidating generalized and pansclerotic forms. Disabling pansclerotic morphea of childhood is a rare and debilitating variant of localiz...

BACKGROUND Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a generalized disorder of unknown etiology affecting the connective tissue of the body. It affects the skin and various internal organs. Gastrointestinal tract involvement is seen in almost 90% of the patients. Esophagus is the most frequently affected part of the gastrointestinal tract. Esophageal motility disturbance classically manifests as a reduced lo...

Cutaneous sclerosis, resembling that seen in subcutaneous morphea, is a feature of eosinophilic fasciitis and eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome, two conditions in which the kynurenine pathway is known to be activated. To investigate the possibility of activation of the kynurenine pathway in morphea, skin biopsies were taken from involved and non-involved sites in a series of three patients with mor...

Despite extensive knowledge about quality of life of people suffering from dermatological diseases, data on patients with morphea are scarce. The aim of our study was to compare the quality of life of healthy controls and morphea patients, as well as to determine the correlation of this variable with the level of dispositional optimism. The study included 47 patients with morphea and 47 healthy...

Sir, antinuclear antibody and anti-SCL 70 antibody showed no obvious abnormalities. The cause of morphea, or localized scleroderma, is unknown, but an autoimmune mechanism is likely to Biopsy specimens of both patients showed irregularly be involved. Patients with morphea have an increased arranged, thickened and hyalinized collagen bundles in incidence of autoimmune disorders, such as alopecia...

Morphea is a localized form of scleroderma characterized by sclerotic plaques limited to the skin. Although its cause is unknown, genetic, infectious and autoimmune mechanisms have been suggessed in the pathogenesis of the morphea. It is more common among childen and young women. Although the prognosis is generally good, it sometimes causes significant morbidity. Morphea has five subtypes as pl...

Generalized morphea is a subtype of localized scleroderma, which lacks systemic manifestations and displays widespread, multiple, well-circumscribed, indurated plaques. We represent a 46-year-old woman with generalized morphea. More than 3 years ago she developed multiple, nonpruritic plaques symmetrically on the trunk and extremities. The patient’s clinical history, laboratory analysis and his...

We present a case of a 69-year-old woman who received external beam radiation for the treatment of breast cancer. Seven months later, she developed generalized morphea involving the area of irradiated skin of the breast as well as distant sites of the groin and distal lower extremity. Postirradiation morphea is an uncommon yet well-documented phenomenon, usually confined to the radiated site an...

INTRODUCTION Morphea is an inflammatory skin disorder characterized by excessive collagen deposition. Although treatment algorithms for morphea subtypes have been suggested, no consistent recommendations are available. This study attempts to evaluate the clinical efficacy of methotrexate (MTX) as monotherapy in refractory generalized morphea. METHODS It is a retrospective study, including 20 ...