Pseudo-hypoparathyroidism Coexistent with Systemic Sclerosis: A Rare Case Report

Background: Systemic sclerosis is a chronic autoimmune inflammatory disease with wide-spread fibrosis of the skin and internal organs. The hypoparathyroidism associated with systemic sclerosis is infrequent and rarely reported in literature.

Case Report: A 48 year-old female patient applied to our clinic with headache, increasing pallor and bruising cold of the hands. Physical examination revealed sclerodactyly and hardening on the skin of forearms and face. Centromeric type anti-nuclear antibodies were detected in the serum, and the patient and was diagnosed with systemic sclerosis. The same woman had also been diagnosed as epilepsy and she had been subjected on anti-epileptic drug therapy for 14 years. We found that she had also hypocalcemia (4,6mg/dl). She was diagnosed as pseudohypoparathyroidism.

Conclusions: Pseudo-hypoparathyroidism associated with systemic sclerosis is a very rare entity. And pseudo-hypoparathyroidism should also be kept in mind in autoimmune disorders.