SCLERODERMA AND THYROID-DISEASE - 7 OBSER VATIONS

Thyroid function, studied in 36 scleroderma patients revealed 7 abnorm al cases:6 hypothyroid patients secondary to autoimmune thyroiditis an d 1 hyperthyroidism secondary to Graves' disease, In the hypothyroid s ubgroup, 3 cases presented a localized systemic sclerosis and the 3 ot hers presented a diffuse systemic sclerosis; Sjogren syndrome was foun d in 2 of these patients, The hyperthyroid patient presented a diffuse systemic sclerosis, Because of the association between scleroderma an d thyroid diseases, we suggest to perform thyroid screening regularly for all patients with systemic sclerosis.