Mixed connective tissue disease
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Mixed connective tissue disease Classification and external resources |
|
| DiseasesDB | 8312 |
|---|---|
| eMedicine | med/3417 |
| MeSH | D008947 |
In medicine, mixed connective tissue disease, commonly abbreviated as MCTD, is a serious autoimmune disease, in which the body's defense system attacks itself. It is also known as Sharp syndrome.
[edit] Clinical features
MCTD combines features of polymyositis, systemic lupus erythematosus, scleroderma, and dermatomyositis,[1] and is thus considered an overlap syndrome.
MCTD commonly causes:
- joint pain/swelling,
- malaise,
- Raynaud phenomenon,
- muscle inflammation, and
- sclerodactyly (thickening of the skin of the pads of the fingers)
It does not typically cause kidney disease or seizures.
Distinguishing laboratory characteristics are a positive, speckled anti-nuclear antibody and an anti-U1-RNP antibody.[2]
[edit] References
- ^ Mixed Connective Tissue Disease (MCTD): Autoimmune Disorders of Connective Tissue: Merck Manual Home Edition.
- ^ Venables PJ (2006). "Mixed connective tissue disease". Lupus 15 (3): 132–7. PMID 16634365.
[edit] External links
 |
This disease article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
