Pigmentation marks, praetibial E13.5

The pretibial pigmentation spots, also called "diabetic dermopathy", are among the most frequent skin manifestations in diabetes mellitus. However, the disease is rarely diagnosed as it causes no symptoms at all.

Clinically impressive are roundish to oval, hyperpigmented and partly atrophic lesions on the extensor sides of the lower legs. Pathogenetically, the skin lesions are associated with diabetic microangiopathy. Dermatohistopathologically there are hemosiderin deposits in the dermis, a basal hyperpigmentation of the epidermis and thickened vessels with hyaline deposits. Remarkable is the association of this cutaneous manifestation of diabetes mellitus with neuropathy, nephropathy and retinopathy. Therefore, the diagnosis of diabetic dermopathy should lead to a specific screening of the affected patients for the above mentioned diabetic complications. Therapeutically, there is no effective therapy against diabetic dermatopathy.