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Pascal Chanez, MD; Bernard Guillot, MD; Jean Bousquet, MD; Gilbert Barnéon, MD; Jean Y ves Lacoste, MD; François-Bernard Michel, MD
University Hospital Montpellier, France

JAMA. 1990;263(7):949.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.—

We read with great interest the article by Dr Claman¹ on the putative importance of mast cells in the integrated view of the pathogenesis of scleroderma. He noted increased numbers of mast cells in the skin of patients with active scleroderma and related this finding to skin fibrosis. Many patients with scleroderma experience lung involvement, usually characterized by fibrosing alveolitis with variable inflammation.² Therefore, it may be expected that mast cells would be increased in the lungs of those patients with scleroderma who have interstitial inflammation, since mast cells may be increased in lung fibrosis³ and there is an increase in mast cells in the skin of patients with scleroderma.

Study. —

We studied 8 patients (40 to 63 years old) who had been suffering from skin scleroderma for the previous 15 to 29 years. Four of these patients had an interstitial lung disease . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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