Ankylosing spondylitis and systemic sclerosis: a rare combination.

We report a case of diffuse systemic sclerosis (skin, joints, esophagus, and Raynaud's phenomenon) in a 41-year-old Caucasian male with a 15-year history of ankylosing spondylitis and an episode of severe myocarditis of unknown origin. His HLA type included both the B27 allele conferring susceptibility to ankylosing spondylitis and the B35, DRB1 11, and DQB1 03 described as associated with systemic sclerosis. This case-report confirms that two inflammatory joint diseases may co-exist, particularly in patients carrying one or two susceptibility alleles to both diseases.