Scleroderma skin--conflicting mucopolysaccharide data reflect stages in connective tissue maturation

It is proposed that the skin of scleroderma patients undergoes orderly temporal changes akin to connective tissue maturation which are reflected in its mucopolysaccharide composition. The apparently conflicting data on mucopolysaccharide changes in scleroderma skin reported in the literature are analyzed in the light of this hypothesis and a possible explanation for the conflict is profferred.