Cutaneous signs of diabetes mellitus.

Cutaneous signs of diabetes mellitus are extremely valuable to both the clinician and the researcher. Lesions such as necrobiosis lipoidica diabeticorum, diabetic dermopathy, carotenemia idiopathic bullous eruptions of granuloma anulare alert the physician to consider the diagnosis of diabetes mellitus. Xanthomas reflect the status of glucose and lipid metabolism. Diabetic dermopathy might be a useful monitor of angiopathic changes in the heart, kidney and brain. Finally, the accessibility of the skin makes it an ideal organ for studying the pathogenesis of diabetes and the effect of medications on the vascular and neurological complications of diabetes.