The octogenarian's fingers changed color as soon as they dipped in cold water, and he actually suffered from this rare disease... Be vigilant!

Octogenarian

Unexplained weight loss

Fingers change color as soon as they dip into cold water

What's going on here?

Recently, Mr. Wu, who is over 80 years old, came to the Department of Renal Rheumatology and Immunology of the Fourth Hospital of Changsha City, Hunan Province. Mr. Wu told the doctor that since half a year ago, he had experienced unexplained weight loss, and 3 months ago, his fingers began to swell, he could not hold his fists, his fingers would turn purple when exposed to cold water, and there were digestive symptoms such as acid reflux and swallowing infarction.

The nephrology and immunology doctor of the Fourth Hospital of Changsha City, Hunan Province, after inquiring about the medical history in detail and conducting a physical examination, considered that Mr. Wu's connective tissue disease was likely, and was admitted to the renal rheumatic immunization ward for hospitalization, and after further examination, he was diagnosed with "systemic sclerosis".

According to the doctor, this is a connective tissue disease characterized by hardening and thickening of the skin, which is a rare disease. The prevalence is only about 50 to 3 million people, and it is more common in women, most of them are in the age of onset of 30 to 50 years old, and there are even fewer elderly male patients like Mr. Wu. The most common initial manifestations of systemic sclerosis are Raynaud's phenomenon and insidious swelling of the extremities and face, with gradual thickening of the skin of the fingers, and multi-organ involvement of lung tissue and pulmonary vessels, digestive tract, and kidneys. Mr. Wu's phenomenon of white and purple fingers when they are cold is Raynaud's phenomenon.

Mr. Wu is elderly and has underlying diseases such as hypertension and diabetes, and the doctor comprehensively assessed Mr. Wu's organ involvement, analyzed the advantages and risks of active treatment, and tailored an individualized immunotherapy plan for him. After 3 days of treatment, Mr. Wu's swollen fingers and whitish purple symptoms were improved.

According to doctors, the diagnosis of systemic sclerosis mainly depends on the clinical manifestations and the examination of autoantibodies. The disease usually progresses slowly, and if there is no timely and standardized treatment, once severe pulmonary interstitial lesions, pulmonary hypertension and renal crisis occur, the prognosis is very poor, and the mortality rate is high. Therefore, early diagnosis and early treatment are required, standardized treatment, prevention and suspension of organ damage, and attention should not be paid to the abuse of hormones.

Doctors remind that rheumatic immune diseases can often have multi-system damage, clinical manifestations are diverse, when there is joint swelling and pain, myalgia fatigue, unexplained fever, skin discoloration when cold, facial butterfly erythema and other symptoms should be timely to the rheumatology immunology department for treatment.

Source: Political Science and Law Channel