scleroderma

American  

[skleer-uh-dur-muh, skler-] / ˌsklɪər əˈdɜr mə, ˌsklɛr- /

noun

Pathology.

1. a disease in which connective tissue anywhere in the body becomes hardened and rigid.

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scleroderma British  

/ ˌsklɪərəʊˈdɜːmə, sklɪˈraɪəsɪs, ˌsklɪərəʊˈdɜːmɪə /

noun

1. a chronic progressive disease most common among women, characterized by a local or diffuse thickening and hardening of the skin

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scleroderma Scientific  

/ sklîr′ə-dûr′mə /

1. A connective tissue disease characterized by the deposition of fibrous tissue into the skin and often other organs, causing tissue hardening and thickening.

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Etymology

Origin of scleroderma

First recorded in 1865–70; sclero- + -derma

Example Sentences

When scientists studied women with such diseases, they often found fetal cells in the affected organs: the skin in scleroderma, the liver in biliary cirrhosis, the joints in rheumatoid arthritis and lupus.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 4, 2025

The researchers observed similar effects in experiments with fibroblasts from patients with scleroderma, a complex autoimmune disease characterized by fibrosis of the skin and internal organs.

From Science Daily • Apr. 24, 2024

Others lost theirs to medical conditions such as sepsis or scleroderma.

From BBC • Dec. 25, 2022

Mrs. LePage’s mother had scleroderma, a chronic disease that causes hardening of the skin.

From New York Times • Sep. 24, 2022

Although regarded by many as a disease distinct from scleroderma, morphea is best described as a circumscribed scleroderma, and presents itself in two clinical aspects: patches and bands, the patches being the more common.

From Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine by Pyle, Walter L. (Walter Lytle)