Connective Tissue Disorders
Basics
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Summary
Your connective tissue supports many different parts of your body, such as your skin, eyes, and heart. It is like a "cellular glue" that gives your body parts their shape and helps keep them strong. It also helps some of your tissues do their work. It is made of many kinds of proteins. Cartilage and fat are types of connective tissue.
Over 200 disorders that impact connective tissue. There are different types:
- Genetic disorders, such as Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, Marfan syndrome, and osteogenesis imperfecta
- Autoimmune disorders, such as lupus and scleroderma
- Cancers, like some types of soft tissue sarcoma
Each disorder has its own symptoms and needs different treatment.
NIH: National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases
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Heritable Disorders of Connective Tissue
(National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases)
Also in Spanish
Diagnosis and Tests
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ANA (Antinuclear Antibody) Test
(National Library of Medicine)
Also in Spanish
Specifics
- Cutis Laxa (Merck & Co., Inc.) Also in Spanish
- Ganglion Cyst (American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons) Also in Spanish
- Ganglion Cysts (American Society for Surgery of the Hand) Also in Spanish
- Lipoma (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
- Loeys-Dietz Syndrome (Marfan Foundation)
- Mixed Connective Tissue Disease (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
- Stickler Syndrome (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
- Synovial Chondromatosis (American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons)
- Undifferentiated Connective Tissue Disease (National Jewish Health)
Genetics
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Genetics Home Reference: achondrogenesis
(National Library of Medicine)
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Genetics Home Reference: arterial tortuosity syndrome
(National Library of Medicine)
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Genetics Home Reference: Buschke-Ollendorff syndrome
(National Library of Medicine)
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Genetics Home Reference: congenital contractural arachnodactyly
(National Library of Medicine)
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Genetics Home Reference: cutis laxa
(National Library of Medicine)
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Genetics Home Reference: Czech dysplasia
(National Library of Medicine)
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Genetics Home Reference: hyaline fibromatosis syndrome
(National Library of Medicine)
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Genetics Home Reference: hypochondrogenesis
(National Library of Medicine)
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Genetics Home Reference: Kniest dysplasia
(National Library of Medicine)
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Genetics Home Reference: lateral meningocele syndrome
(National Library of Medicine)
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Genetics Home Reference: Loeys-Dietz syndrome
(National Library of Medicine)
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Genetics Home Reference: otospondylomegaepiphyseal dysplasia
(National Library of Medicine)
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Genetics Home Reference: platyspondylic lethal skeletal dysplasia, Torrance type
(National Library of Medicine)
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Genetics Home Reference: pseudoxanthoma elasticum
(National Library of Medicine)
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Genetics Home Reference: Shprintzen-Goldberg syndrome
(National Library of Medicine)
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Genetics Home Reference: spondyloepimetaphyseal dysplasia, Strudwick type
(National Library of Medicine)
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Genetics Home Reference: spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita
(National Library of Medicine)
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Genetics Home Reference: spondyloperipheral dysplasia
(National Library of Medicine)
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Genetics Home Reference: Stickler syndrome
(National Library of Medicine)
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Genetics Home Reference: systemic scleroderma
(National Library of Medicine)
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Genetics Home Reference: Weill-Marchesani syndrome
(National Library of Medicine)
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Genetics Home Reference: Weissenbacher-Zweymüller syndrome
(National Library of Medicine)
Clinical Trials
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ClinicalTrials.gov: Connective Tissue Diseases
(National Institutes of Health)
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ClinicalTrials.gov: Mixed Connective Tissue Disease
(National Institutes of Health)
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ClinicalTrials.gov: Pseudoxanthoma Elasticum
(National Institutes of Health)
Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)
Find an Expert
Patient Handouts
- Dupuytrens contracture (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish