To the Editor.—
In his original description of diffuse fasciitis with eosinophilia, Shulman1 noted that several patients showed development of their initial symptoms after exercise, and he suggested that a peculiar response to undue physical exertion may be partly responsible for the condition. Subsequent reports2,3 (240:451, 1978) have characterized eosinophilic fasciitis as a distinct entity. We report here a case of eosinophilic fasciitis that started after pregnancy.
Report of a Case.—
The patient was a 42-year-old mother of two with a nine-month history of pain, weakness, and swelling of her hands, which interfered with her caring for her baby who was born three months before the onset of her symptoms. She was in good health. She had had one previous, uneventful pregnancy 20 years earlier. She denied dysphagia and Raynaud's phenomenon. She did no regular exercise.The skin of her forearms and her hands was tense and warm.