J. P. Swain 1 , H. K. Shukla 2
INTRODUCTION Diabetic dermopathy is a term used to describe the small, round, brown atrophic skin lesions that occur on the shins of patients with diabetes. The lesions are asymptomatic and occur in up to 55% of patients with diabetes. One hundred diabetic patients and 100 non-diabetic controls were examined for lesions of diabetic dermoangiopathy. Twenty two (22%) diabetic persons have lesions in contrast to only two (2%) people in controls. Diabetic dermopathy was more common in older patients mostly in fifth to the seventh decade and those with longstanding diabetes. There was no statistical significant relationship with the sex, type, severity of diabetes, diabetic neuropathy and macroangiopathy like CAD, PVD or CVA. Dermopathy was also more common (31.5%) among the persons whose duration of diabetes was more than 5 years, than if it was less than 5 years (16.1%). Seven (38.8%) out of 18 cases of retinopathy also had dermopathy. The underlying mechanism for diabetic dermopathy is unknown, although it may be related to local thermal trauma, decreased blood flow causing impaired wound healing or local subcutaneous nerve degeneration. Diabetic dermopathy requires no treatment, but may be a surrogate for other complications of diabetes, which require investigation and management.
