Scleroderma - Prognosis

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• Impotence, usually due to scarring of the penis, may be one of the first complications of the disease in men.
• There is some evidence of changes in the elastic properties of large arteries, such as those leading into the legs and up to the brain, in patients with scleroderma. Such changes theoretically increase the risk for stroke. Current evidence does not reveal an elevated risk.
• Some studies, using imaging techniques, have found changes in brain tissue, but because the brain has little connective tissue, scleroderma appears to have little effect on mental functioning, except possibly in late stages of severe disease.
• Systemic scleroderma does not generally affect fertility in women. Pregnant women with scleroderma, however, have a slightly increased risk of premature birth and low birth weight babies.

Review Date: 12/14/2006
Reviewed By: Harvey Simon, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Physician, Massachusetts General Hospital

A.D.A.M., Inc. is accredited by URAC, also known as the American Accreditation HealthCare Commission (www.urac.org).

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