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Scleredema adultorum (SA) is a rare sclerotic disorder characterized by non-pitting induration of the neck with acral progression, sparing hands and feet. We report on a 57-year-old male with severe SA associated with paraproteinemia, treated with methotrexate. Such widespread skin thickening followed by severe movement restriction and inability to function on daily basis, as in our patient, has never been described. Severe osteoarthritis and finding of HLA-B39 allele in association with SA has not been previously described either. To the best of our knowledge, up to 40 patients with SA associated with paraproteinemia has been reported so far, and currently, there is no established effective treatment protocol. In our patient, low-dose methotrexate resulted in stiffness reduction, increased motility of the trunk and extremities, and ability to function on daily basis. We believe that any information about treatment outcome in SA patients should be disseminated in order to establish consensual treatment protocol for this rare disease.

Scleredema is a rare primary cutaneous mucinosis. Systemic involvement is uncommon and histological confirmation is often lacking. We report a case of a 60-year-old man with scleredema and evidence of mucin deposition on biopsies from multiple extracutaneous sites. The bone marrow, nerve, hepatic and salivary gland involvement seen on histology in our patient has not, to our knowledge, been previously reported in this condition.

Four patients with paraproteinemia and scleredema were studied. Histologic features included marked thickening and fibrosis of the dermis and subcutis. Variable amounts of mucin deposits were detected in the interfibrillar spaces. Serum from one patient significantly stimulated collagen production in normal skin fibroblast cultures, whereas serum from another patient stimulated collagen production in autologous cell cultures. Moreover, serum from one patient stimulated the [35S]sulfate incorporation into the fibroblasts. Circulating serum factors, possibly related to the paraprotein, may enhance the synthesis of extracellular macromolecules by dermal fibroblasts in these patients, thus providing a mechanism for dermal fibrosis.