Skin manifestations of connective tissue diseases in childhood. 1. Scleroderma.

78 cases of connective tissue diseases were observed among 33,250 pediatric der­matoses. Scleroderma is 5 times more frequent than lupus erythematosus and der­matomyositis in children and mainly affects females as well as in adults. The sclerotic changes may involve only a limited part of the skin connective tissue (localized scleroderma), all the skin connective tissue (generalized scleroderma) and the con­nective tissue of other organs besides the skin (systemic sclerosis). The most fre­quent clinical forms of scleroderma in children are treated and their pathogenesis is discussed also in the light of the relevant literature.