What causes pediatric scleroderma?
The exact cause of pediatric scleroderma is unknown. It seems to involve a disorder of the cells lining small blood vessels. Scleroderma may also be related to defects in the immune system, in which the body’s normally protective defense system causes damage to its own tissues. Normally, the immune system helps defend the body against infection. In patients with scleroderma, the immune system triggers other cells to produce too much collagen (a protein). This extra collagen is deposited in the skin and organs, which causes hardening and thickening (similar to the scarring process). Scleroderma is not contagious, so people cannot “catch it” or pass it on to someone else. Who is affected by pediatric scleroderma? There are only 5,000 to 7,000 children with scleroderma in the United States. Only 1.5 percent of all people with scleroderma develop it before age 10, and 7 percent develop it between ages 10 and 19. Two thirds of children who acquire scleroderma are female. How is scleroderma
