I am a thirty-four-year-old woman, and I have been suffering from localized morphea scleroderma for about twenty years.

The disease initially started with a very small mark on my right thigh that seemed to be a bruise. Then the lesion changed its appearance and extended along the entire leg. Meanwhile, a small mark also appeared on my face, which was almost certainly another manifestation of the same disease. I went to see various specialists, almost all of whom agreed on the diagnosis and on the impossibility of an ad hoc therapy, explaining to me that the real cause of the disease is unknown, along with its treatment. They suggested I try various treatments that have not been of much benefit apart from softening the skin.

I had a series of immunological tests performed (including antinuclear antibodies) to check if this was a systemic form of scleroderma. Fortunately, these tests were all negative.

Now, having read the information on www.sclero.org, I am no longer sure that these results completely rule out the more serious form of this disease. For the record, I also suffer from celiac disease.

*Editorial note by Dr. Magdalena Dziadzio and Dr. Mario Gismondi: From the data currently available, there is no evidence that the localized form of scleroderma can turn into the systemic disease.