Mixed connective tissue disease

Mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD) is a systemic autoimmune disease that shares characteristics with at least two other systemic autoimmune diseases, including systemic sclerosis (Ssc), systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), polymyositis/dermatomyositis (PM/DM), and rheumatoid arthritis. The idea behind the "mixed" disease is that this specific autoantibody is also present in other autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus, polymyositis, scleroderma, etc. MCTD was characterized as an individual disease in 1972 by Sharp et al., and the term was introduced by Leroy in 1980.

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