Case for Diagnosis: Scleroderma? Presented by Robert L. Day, M.D.
The patient, a 22-year-old white housewife, was first seen on February 9, 1959, with the complaint of a tender area on the left chest, first noted three and one-half years ago, immediately following birth of a baby. It began as a whitish pruritic area immediately below the left breast. The spot enlarged only slightly, and other similar areas developed nearby. In the past year the area has become reddened and exquisitely tender. She thinks there is some "caved-in" appearances to the central portion. In the last year she has developed a similar smaller area on the left quadrant of the abdomen.Physical findings: There is a 4-inch by 12-inch area of dusky-red darkening of the skin of the left chest in the inframammary area, distributed over the course of the 6th thoracic nerve, and stops sharply at the midline and