Skin-Kidney Disease Baffles Doctors

[Guest guest]

-

<cherokee@>

Thursday, January 17, 2002 6:02 PM

Skin-Kidney Disease Baffles Doctors

 

 

Skin-Kidney Disease Baffles Doctors

 

By ERIN McCLAM

Associated Press Writer

 

January 17, 2002, 2:21 PM EST

 

 

ATLANTA -- Doctors are baffled by a strange condition showing up in

people

with kidney disease that causes their skin to thicken and tighten so

much it

restricts their movement.

 

The skin condition was first noticed in kidney transplant patients at a

California hospital in 1997. Since then, 49 cases have been reported in

the

United States and Europe -- all in patients with kidney disease.

 

Some of the patients have improved, but there is no known treatment. The

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, looking for answers,

reported

the mystery Thursday in its weekly bulletin for doctors.

 

In some patients, the skin has tightened so much they are unable to

drive,

or they need to use wheelchairs.

 

" Their skin feels like wood, " said Dr. Michelle Goveia, a

California-based

CDC epidemiologist. " You knock on it, and it sounds like you're knocking

on

wood. Their skin's so tight and taut and thick that they can't extend

their

extremities anymore. "

 

The 49 patients all developed tight, toughened skin with small bumps on

their chests, hands and feet, and in some cases their skin was

discolored.

 

Doctors first thought the skin disease might be scleromyxedema, a

life-threatening illness that also causes lesions. But a protein test

appears to rule that theory out.

 

Goveia said experts believe the problem might have to do with the way

the

kidneys process the blood. It could be that these patients'

malfunctioning

kidneys are creating a backlog -- doctors are not sure of what -- that

leads

to the skin disorder.

 

Adding to the frustration for specialists is that there are so few

cases,

spread out over such a long time, that it is hard to find a pattern that

could help doctors pinpoint the cause.

 

___

 

On the Net:

 

CDC: http://www.cdc.gov

2002, The Associated Press

 

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-skin-mystery0117jan17.st

ory?coll=sns%2Dap%2Dnationworld%2Dheadlines

---

[This E-mail scanned for viruses by Declude Virus]