Clinical Usefulness of Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Four Children With Scleroderma
Kazushi AGATA1, Hisashi KAWASHIMA1, Atsushi KUMADA1, Yasuyo KASHIWAGI1, Hiroko HARA2
1Department of Pediatrics, Tokyo Medical University, Tokyo, Japan
2Department of Radiology, Kawaguchi Municipal Medical Center, Saitama, Japan
Keywords: Localized scleroderma; magnetic resonance imaging; methotrexate; mycophenolate mofetil; osteomyelitis.
Abstract
Children with localized scleroderma may have more serious sequelae than adults with the disease. In this case report, we analyzed four girls with localized scleroderma (generalized morphea) to evaluate the clinical usefulness of magnetic resonance imaging in facilitating disease control and investigating patient responsiveness to various treatments. Two of the children had flexion contracture, and two displayed a clear high-intensity area in the bone marrow under the sclerotic skin on magnetic resonance imaging. Two girls had different bilateral circumferences of the legs or forearms. These abnormalities were detected without any obvious changes in blood chemistry. Our results demonstrated that magnetic resonance imaging is useful for the evaluation of treatment effects for localized scleroderma in children.
The authors declared no conflicts of interest with respect to the authorship and/or publication of this article.
The authors received no financial support for the research and/or authorship of this article.