Two cases of morphea associated with Hashimoto's thyroiditis.

Sir, antinuclear antibody and anti-SCL 70 antibody showed no obvious abnormalities. The cause of morphea, or localized scleroderma, is unknown, but an autoimmune mechanism is likely to Biopsy specimens of both patients showed irregularly be involved. Patients with morphea have an increased arranged, thickened and hyalinized collagen bundles in incidence of autoimmune disorders, such as alopecia the reticular dermis and a patchy in ammatory inŽ ltrate, areata, vitiligo, systemic sclerosis, lichen sclerosus et predominantly lymphocytic admixed with plasma cells, atrophicus or lichen planus, and autoantibodies of variin the dermis and subcutaneous fat. Collagen proliferaous types (1). Thyroid dysfunction is also commonly tion and in ammatory inŽ ltrate thickened the trabeculae found in systemic sclerosis (2, 3), but only rarely has of the subcutaneous fat and displaced the atropic eccrine this been associated with morphea. We report here on glands up to the mid-dermis. two cases of morphea in patients with onset or previous Under the diagnosis of morphea and hypothyroidism, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. These cases suggest that the patient 1 received oral sodium levothyroxine 0.1mg/day and intralesional injections of triamcinolone. Patient 2 development of morphea is associated with an autoreceived oral prednisolone and intralesional injections immune mechanism and that an evaluation of the thyof triamcinolone. roid function should be performed in morphea patients.