A Literature Review of Eosinophilic Fasciitis with an Illustrative Case

Eosinophilic Fasciitis Responds Well to Steroids and Methotrexate

Eosinophilic fasciitis (EF) is a rare systemic inflammatory disease with an unknown etiology. Making a diagnosis in such a case is always a challenge as it is a rare disease and mimics scleroderma and scleroderma-like syndrome but should be kept in mind as it carries a high mortality. Furthermore, it is a treatable disease. Here, we report a 41-year-old woman who presented to the rheumatology clinic at the Royal Hospital, Muscat, Oman, with a one-month history of bilateral swelling of the forearms along with skin tightness and fingers contraction. Her history and physical examination along with histopathological examination and magnetic resonance imaging findings were consistent with EF. She showed an excellent response to steroids and methotrexate which is not a combination therapy that has been tried or mentioned previously.

[Sclerosing skin diseases]

Sclerosing skin manifestations are more a symptom than a diagnosis and must therefore be meticulously clarified. Systemic scleroderma as a multiorgan disease must be distinguished from localized scleroderma or morphea because in addition to a different clinical picture they have a different prognosis and necessitate other therapeutic procedures. Rare sclerosing skin diseases with implications for internal medicine are eosinophilic fasciitis, Buschke's scleredema adultorum, scleromyxedema and nephrogenic systemic fibrosis.