Treating Patients With CREST Syndrome

By Krista L. Beaty, RDH, BS, JoAnn R. Gurenlian, RDH, MS, PhD

CREST syndrome is an autoimmune disorder that is a localized variant of systemic scleroderma, a chronic connective tissue disease.^1,2 CREST is characterized by the combination of five autoimmune conditions: calcinosis cutis, Raynaud phenomenon, esophageal dysmotility, sclerodactyly, and telangiectasia (Table 1).^1–4 A slowly progressing disease, CREST syndrome primarily affects middle-aged women and 55 is the mean age of onset.^1,5 Approximately 21 new cases of CREST syndrome are diagnosed per 1 million adults in the United States.6 While there is no known definitive cause of CREST, some proposed etiological factors include genetics, exposure to environmental or infectious agents, and graft-vs-host reactions.⁷

* References can be found in the original article via the link below.
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