What is Mctd autoimmune disease?

What is mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD)? Mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD) is a rare autoimmune disorder. An autoimmune disorder is one in which the immune system mistakenly views the body's own tissues as "invaders" and attacks them.
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What does a MCTD flare feel like?

An MCTD flare is marked by an increase in symptoms that can vary in severity. These symptoms can include pain, fever, skin rash, and extreme fatigue, depending on which overlap autoimmune conditions your MCTD more closely resembles.
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How serious is MCTD?

Mixed connective tissue disease can lead to serious complications, some of which can be fatal. Complications include: High blood pressure in the lungs (pulmonary hypertension). This condition is a major cause of death in people with mixed connective tissue disease.
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Is mixed connective tissue disease worse than lupus?

However, when a person has mixed connective tissue disorder, the symptoms aren't as severe or as widespread as they would be if the person has lupus, scleroderma, rheumatoid arthritis or other rheumatic disorder. This condition has many symptoms, including: Pain in two or more joints.
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What does MCTD do to your body?

If you have MCTD: You may experience pain or inflammation in your joints, muscle weakness, fever, and fatigue or tiredness. Your hands can become puffy and swollen because of fluid buildup. You may see skin rashes, red-colored patches on your knuckles, and violet coloring of your eyelids.
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A Rheumatologist Explains: Mixed Connected Tissue Disorder



What is the best treatment for MCTD?

Treatment of MCTD

Corticosteroids are usually effective, especially when the disease is diagnosed early. Mild cases can be treated with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), antimalarial drugs (such as hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine), or very low doses of corticosteroids.
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How do they diagnose MCTD?

MCTD may be diagnosed based upon a thorough clinical evaluation, a detailed patient history, identification of characteristic findings and specialized tests such as blood tests that reveal abnormally high levels of antibodies to the U1 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein (anti-RNP).
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What is the life expectancy of someone with connective tissue disease?

Since MCTD is comprised of a number of connective tissue disorders, there are many different possible outcomes, depending on the organs affected, the degree of inflammation, and how quickly the disease progresses. With proper treatment, 80% of people survive at least 10 years after diagnosis.
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Can MCTD affect the brain?

The abnormal immune reaction causes inflammation of and damage to various body parts and can affect joints, skin, kidneys, heart, lungs, blood vessels, and the brain. SLE and MCTD often affect young women, especially black and Hispanic women, and there is no known cure.
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Is MCTD a disability?

Those with mixed connective tissue disease or undifferentiated connective tissue disease may qualify for Social Security disability benefits if your condition meets the SSA's Blue Book listing.
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What medication is used for connective tissue disease?

Hydroxychloroquine (Plaquenil) can treat mild mixed connective tissue disease and might prevent flare-ups.
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What type of doctor treats mixed connective tissue disease?

Doctors who treat patients with mixed connective tissue disease include primary-care providers such as general practitioners, internists, and family medicine doctors. Other specialists who can be involved in the care for these patients include neurologists, cardiologists, pulmonologists, and nephrologists.
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How common is MCTD?

MCTD is a rare condition, incident in about 2 persons per 100,000 person-years. Raynaud phenomena, arthralgia and swollen hands were the most common manifestations. Evolution to other connective diseases was infrequent.
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Does MCTD cause back pain?

We recently encountered a case of autoimmune adhesive arachnoiditis in a young woman with 7 years history of MCTD who presented with severe back pain and myeloradiculopathic symptoms of lower limbs. To the best of our knowledge, adhesive arachnoiditis in an MCTD patient has never been previously reported.
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Can mixed connective tissue disease turn into lupus?

Doctor's response. Yes. Undifferentiated connective tissue disease (UCTD) is a condition which melts together features of various classical diseases. The classical connective tissue diseases include rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, scleroderma, polymyositis, dermatomyositis, and Sjogren's syndrome.
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Is MCTD progressive?

Abstract. The prognosis for patients who have mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD) varies from a benign course to severe progressive disease. In approximately one third of patients the clinical symptoms go into long-term remission and the anti-U1 small nuclear ribonucleoprotein antibodies disappear.
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Can MCTD cause paralysis?

Myelopathy in MCTD is extremely rare, and is usually characterized by serious neurological complications, such as paralysis or muscular paresis, sensory impairment, and smooth muscle dysfunction.
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How do I live with MCTD?

Exercise. Remaining active with MCTD is important to living well. Regular exercise can help with your pain and fatigue and prevent further complications. Do not be discouraged if your current symptoms are holding you back from participating in activities that you once enjoyed or turned to for exercise.
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Does MCTD cause itching?

The cutaneous manifestations usually include sclerodermatous changes and lupus-like manifestations and can present with pruritus. “The pattern of the disease reflects the location of the itch: hands in sclerodermatous pattern MCTD, and sun-exposed areas in SLE-like MCTD,” Dr. Argobi says.
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Does MCTD shorten your life?

According to the National Institutes of Health, the 10-year survival rate for people with MCTD is about 80 percent. That means 80 percent of people with MCTD are still alive 10 years after being diagnosed.
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Does a rheumatologist treat mixed connective tissue disease?

Whenever possible, a rheumatologist experienced in diagnosis and treatment of the disease should co-manage all patients with mixed connective-tissue disease (MCTD).
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How do you know if you have connective tissue disorder?

Because connective tissue disorders can have symptoms similar to other conditions, diagnostic tests will help rule out other causes and confirm a diagnosis. These tests may include a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan of the brain and spinal cord and a lumbar puncture, also known as a spinal tap.
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Does MCTD cause weight loss?

As with other connective tissue diseases, the symptoms of MCTD can range from very mild to life-threatening. Often, patients with MCTD have systemic symptoms such as fevers, weight loss, a decrease in energy, and feelings of weakness.
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Does MCTD cause neck pain?

The frequency of severe myositis in MCTD is rare, but several cases that developed severe and refractory myositis have been reported (4,5). Neck muscles can be affected in patients with MCTD, and myositis in the extensor muscles results in drop head syndrome (DHS).
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Does MCTD cause muscle aches?

Almost everyone with MCTD will have aching joints. The disease also inflames the muscle fibres causing weakness and sometimes soreness, especially in the muscles around the shoulders and hips. Frequently, MCTD causes swollen hands and fingers where the fingers may look very puffy and joints may be swollen.
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