UCTD has features of autoimmune connective tissue diseases without meeting criteria for a specific diagnosis.
✦ AI summary
Undifferentiated Connective Tissue Disease (UCTD) is described as an autoimmune condition where people have symptoms and antibody patterns suggesting a connective tissue disease, but don't fully meet the criteria for a specific named one like lupus or Sjögren's [8]. Research following 504 patients for at least 5 years found that about 1 in 5 eventually developed a defined condition, most often Sjögren's disease or lupus, with certain antibodies (anti-Ro/SS-A, anti-dsDNA) and a dry-eye test result linked to higher risk of progression [8]. Common symptoms reported include joint pain, dry eyes/mouth, light sensitivity, mouth sores, and Raynaud's phenomenon (color changes in fingers with cold/stress) [8]. Some studies link UCTD to other findings, such as salivary gland problems and ranulas (fluid-filled swellings under the tongue) [1], imaging differences in tear glands that can help distinguish UCTD from Sjögren's [9], early signs of blood vessel thickening even without traditional heart-disease risk factors [5], and possible viral patterns in the blood shared with other autoimmune diseases [2]. In
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A clinicopathological study on the associations between ranulas and autoimmune diseases.
The study aimed to investigate autoimmune disease (AD) prevalence in ranula patients, analyse their clinicopathological features, and explore the associations between ADs and ranulas. This cross-sectional study enrolled surgically treated ranula patients between 2021 and 2023. AD diagnosis was estab…
Viral metagenomic analysis of the blood virome in patients with multiple autoimmune diseases.
Autoimmune diseases are chronic and heterogeneous disorders resulting from the breakdown of immune tolerance and subsequent tissue damage. Beyond genetic predisposition, viral infections are increasingly recognized as pivotal environmental contributors to disease onset. In this study, we performed c…
The Role of Anti-Phosphatidylserine/Prothrombin Antibodies and the Lectin Complement Pathway in Anti-Phospholipid Antibody-Associated Preterm Delivery.
Antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL) may directly affect placentation and trigger local complement-mediated inflammation/thrombosis. Obstetric complications in the antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) are still frequent despite therapy/close monitoring, and the identification of new risk biomarkers is an un…
NIPT failure due to excessive chromosomal aberrations in an autoimmune pregnancy.
Noninvasive prenatal testing (NIPT) has been widely adopted in clinical practice for screening fetal aneuploidies and copy number variations (CNVs). However, a small proportion of cases exhibit unexplained test failures. This study reports a case with NIPT results showing Z-scores exceeding the refe…
Thrombocytosis in a patient with NUDT15 homozygous variant: clues in clinical pharmacogenetics.
A female patient diagnosed with an undifferentiated connective tissue disorder (UCTD) experienced progressive symptoms including hair loss, vomiting, diarrhoea and abdominal pain accompanied by haematological changes of anaemia, absolute neutropenia with thrombocytosis following 7 weeks of azathiopr…
Subclinical atherosclerosis in patients with undifferentiated connective tissue disease: comparison with rheumatoid arthritis.
To investigate the lipid profile and subclinical atherosclerosis in patients with undifferentiated connective tissue disease (UCTD), in comparison with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and healthy individuals. This cross-sectional controlled study included 30 patients with UCTD, treated with conventional s…
Teclistamab for treatment-refractory autoimmune diseases: a multicentre case series.
This study aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of teclistamab, a T cell-redirecting bispecific antibody targeting B-cell maturation antigen, in a case series of severe autoimmune diseases. Data were retrospectively collected from patients with treatment-refractory systemic sclerosis (SSc), idi…
Can baseline features predict progression to defined connective tissue disease? Insights from a minimum 5-year follow-up study of 504 patients with undifferentiated connective tissue disease: A retrospective study.
Undifferentiated connective tissue disease (UCTD) represents a systemic autoimmune condition characterized by clinical and serological features suggestive of defined connective tissue diseases (CTDs), yet it is insufficient to fulfil existing classification criteria. Despite increasing interest, lon…