Case Report
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2021. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Oct 16, 2021; 9(29): 8831-8838
Published online Oct 16, 2021. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v9.i29.8831
Diagnosis and treatment of eosinophilic fasciitis: Report of two cases
Yang Song, Ning Zhang, Yue Yu
Yang Song, Ning Zhang, Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang 110004, Liaoning Province, China
Yue Yu, Department of Thoracic Surgery, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang 110004, Liaoning Province, China
Author contributions: Zhang N was responsible for conception and design of the study; Song Y and Yu Y collected the data from the clinical case; all authors drafted, revised, and approved this paper.
Informed consent statement: Informed written consent was obtained from the patients for the publication of this report and any accompanying images.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest to report.
CARE Checklist (2016) statement: The authors have read the CARE Checklist (2016), and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CARE Checklist (2016).
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Ning Zhang, MD, PhD, Doctor, Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, No. 39 Huaxiang Road, Tiexi District, Shenyang 110004, Liaoning Province, China. nzhang55@cmu.edu.cn
Received: June 8, 2021
Peer-review started: June 8, 2021
First decision: June 25, 2021
Revised: June 28, 2021
Accepted: August 17, 2021
Article in press: August 17, 2021
Published online: October 16, 2021
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Eosinophilic fasciitis (EF) is a rare disease characterized by inflammation of the fascia with immune system involvement. Failure to promptly diagnose and treat this disease can seriously affect the quality of life of patients. However, no clear and uniform criteria for diagnosis and treatment exist.

CASE SUMMARY

In this paper, we report two cases of EF, both of which showed symmetrical limb swelling and rigidity, increased eosinophils in the peripheral blood and bone marrow, increased red blood cell sedimentation rate, increased antinuclear antibody titer, and pathological changes in the tissues such as eosinophil and lymphocyte infiltration. Both patients were treated with hormones and cyclosporine, and showed significant improvements in their conditions.

CONCLUSION

EF is an autoimmune disease causing swelling and sclerosis of the fascia and eosinophilia. It is diagnosable by magnetic resonance imaging, positron emission tomography-computed tomography, blood routine tests, and bone marrow puncture. Glucocorticoids and immunosuppressants are effective treatments.

Keywords: Eosinophilic fasciitis, Magnetic resonance imaging, Histopathological examination, Glucocorticoids, Immunosuppressants, Case report

Core Tip: Eosinophilic fasciitis is a rare disease that can affect the immune system. Currently, there are no clear diagnostic criteria for this entity. Because of the rarity of eosinophilic fasciitis, patients may go to orthopedics department, dermatology department, etc., for dyskinesias, skin lesions, etc., so the disease is diagnosis and treatment will be restricted in many ways. This article records two eosinophilic fasciitis patients, in order to provide more detailed and comprehensive information for the clinical diagnosis and treatment of this rare disease.