Eosinophilic Fasciitis

The fascia had received little attention until Shulman's delineation of EF. Evidence is now accumulating that in addition to EF and scleroderma, significant fascial inflammation may be seen in polymyositis, dermatomyositis, eosinophilic polymyositis, systemic lupus erythematosus, and mixed connective tissue disease. It is still unclear whether EF represents a variant of scleroderma; however, it is becoming increasingly recognized that scleroderma shares many features in common with EF including eosinophilia, hypergammaglobulinemia, positive ANA and rheumatoid factor, and an association with hematologic disease. The rarity of Raynaud's phenomenon and significant visceral changes help distinguish EF from systemic scleroderma. In this regard, however, EF more closely resembles the localized scleroderma syndromes, especially morphea profunda and pansclerotic morphea. Biopsy in EF, systemic scleroderma, and localized scleroderma will show comparable changes, the essential difference being the levels at which they occur.