What diseases characteristically affect connective tissue?
Diseases of connective tissue that are strictly inheritable (due to genetic inheritance) include Marfan syndrome (can have tissue abnormalities in the heart, aorta, lungs, eyes, and skeleton) and Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (may have loose, fragile skin or loose [hyperextensible] joints). Pseudoxanthoma elasticum is an inherited disorder of elastin. Other diseases of connective tissue do not have specific gene abnormalities as their sole cause. These connective tissue diseases occur for unknown reasons. They are characterized as a group by the presence of spontaneous over activity of the immune system, which results in the production of unusual antibodies into the blood. The classic immune-related connective tissue diseases include systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma, polymyositis, and dermatomyositis. Each of these diseases has a characteristic presentation with typical clinical findings that doctors can recognize during an examination. Each also has characteris
