Scleroderma

(skle-ro-der' -mah). Sclerodermia; sclerema; scleriasis; hidebound skin; dermalo-sclerosis; hide-bound disease. A rare affection of the skin, characterized in general by infiltration of its substance, followed by shrinking or contraction and impairment of the secreting apparatus, resulting in a characteristic stiffne and hardening of the integument, occurring in diffuse and symmetric forms, and spreading more or le rapidly over the surface of the body, involving especially the scalp, face, neck, chest, and upper limbs. Itching may or may not be present. The etioli obscure, but the disease is evidently of nervous origin. S., Circumscribed. See Morphea . S. diffusa, a form confined to a particular ana. S. local is, morphea; circumscribed scleroderma. S. neon a to rum. See Sclerema neon a to rum.