Selective involvement of the first carpometacarpal joint in scleroderma.

Selective involvement of the first carpometacarpal joint is described in four women with scleroderma. Radiographic abnormalities at this site included osseous erosion, radial subluxation of the metacarpal base, and (in two patients) intraarticular calcification. Perlarticular osseous erosions were noted at adjacent locations in three patients. The cause of this distinctive wrist finding in scleroderma is unknown, but its similarity to alterations in other connective tissue diseases suggests that muscular and tendon imbalance may be important in producing bone erosion and subluxation at this articulation.