Connective Tissue & ECM

Acute chest or back pain

A young adult develops sudden tearing chest or back pain. They are unusually tall with long fingers; a family member has had early aortic disease. A separate visit for visual change notes lens displacement.

Hypermobile joints and fragile skin

A patient reports recurrent joint instability, easy bruising, hyperextensible or fragile skin, and poor tolerance of ordinary tensile stress. They deny a single major injury that explains the pattern.

Low-force fractures

A child has recurrent fractures after minimal trauma. Examination notes a blue hue to the sclerae and a family history of unusually fragile bones.

Bleeding gums and poor healing

A patient with nutritional risk has bleeding gums, perifollicular bruising or petechiae, musculoskeletal pain, and wounds that heal poorly.

Progressive loss of organ architecture

After chronic or repeated injury, a patient develops progressive loss of normal organ architecture or function. The symptom depends on the affected organ, but the course is persistent rather than a single acute insult.