Fibroblast culture of affected skin has shown increased procollagen synthesis. Likewise, serum from scleredema patients has been shown to stimulate collagen production in normal skin fibroblasts. Involvement of the skin over joints may cause limited range of motion. Scleredema on the face can result in difficulty with opening the eyes and mouth. Extensive truncal involvement may rarely cause restrictive lung disease.
Reports also exist of recurrent cellulitis and delayed wound healing in areas of affected skin.
Unlike scleroderma, the tongue may be involved in scleredema, resulting in dysarthria, difficulty with mastication and tongue protrusion. Cardiac involvement is rare and may result in cardiomyopathy, heart failure, arrhythmias and unexplained murmurs. Other organs that may be involved in scleredema include skeletal muscles, ocular muscles, pharynx, liver, parotid glands, pleura, peritoneum and spleen. In one report, a patient developed dysphagia presumably from scleredema of the upper esophagus. Esophageal involvement is usually thought to be a feature that distinguishes scleredema, which does not affect the esophagus, from scleroderma, which does.