Porphyria Cutanea Tarda With Scleroderma. Presented by Farrington Daniels, Jr., MD.
This 69-year-old white man has suffered from his diseases for over 30 years. There is no family history of either porphyria or scleroderma. As a teen-age boy, the patient reputedly drank a quart of whiskey a day until an episode of liver damage caused him to slow down. He continued to drink intermittently for many years, but since the diagnosis of porphyria in 1964, he has had only an occasional glass of beer. In 1939, when he was in the tropics, he suffered a severe sunburn and since that time has noticed a susceptibility to sunlight. About 15 years ago a sclerotic lesion developed over the anterior portion of his chest. A second sclerotic area formed on the scalp ten years ago, lost its hair slowly, and during the period of loss the patient experienced severe headaches. At