The Coup de Sabre

There has been a long-standing debate on the relationship between progressive hemifacial atrophy and scleroderma, several authors stoutly defending the position that the coup de sabre - the strike of a sword - is a special type of progressive hemifacial atrophy. Others state that the two conditions may occur simultaneously. It should be pointed out that in some cases the skin is spared while only the fat and subcutaneous tissues disappear.

The ridge down my forehead seemed to be getting increasingly worse (and continues to worsen these last 3-4 years -- I can't really tell if it's due to increased bone loss and thinning of soft tissue, or if it's because I'm getting that much older, and losing that much more elasticity in my skin, though). I asked for a referral from my regular doctor to a reconstructive surgeon, to see about having my forehead built up again. This doctor identified the Rombergs and ordered the 3D C-T scan. The results were fascinating, although I wish this was happening to someone else's skull instead of my own.