Abstract
We investigated and studied the cutaneous manifestations of diabetes mellitus in 267 inpatients. The mean age of the patients was 58 years (female 59 years, male 57 years), the mean duration of the disease was 13.2 years, and the mean HbA1c at the time of hospitalization was 9.13%. Most of the cutaneous infections were fungal ones. Notably, tinea pedis accounted for 74.1% (198 cases) of the cases in this study. Candidal infections were found in only 5.2% (14 cases) of the cases. About half of these cases with candidal infections had complicating diabetic triopathy. Diabetic rubeosis, carotenodermia, and palmar erythema, as comparatively characteristic skin manifestations of diabetes mellitus, were noted in 53 cases, 36 cases, and 23 cases, respectively. Dupuytrenʼs disease (17 cases), diabetic dermapathy (6 cases), and scleredema diabeticorum (5 cases) were associated with diabetic triopathy at a high frequency. In this study, palmo-plantar pigmented macules were noted in 43 cases. The pigmented macules were predominantly observed in the males, although the clinical relationships between these pigmented macules and diabetes mellitus remain unknown. This study clarified the frequency of the skin manifestations in diabetes mellitus and showed the relationships between these skin manifestations and the pathogenesis of diabetes mellitus.
