Skin Blood Flow in Diabetic Dermopathy

Results:Heat-stimulated blood flow values at the knee, ankle, and toe were about 50% lower for the dermopathy patients than for the nondiabetic controls. Yet, despitetheirreducedskinbloodflowreserve,thedermopathy lesions did not show relative ischemia. At the basal temperature of 35°C, flow was 1.1±0.1 mL /min per 100 g of tissue in apparently normal skin vs 2.2±0.2 at dermopathy sites; at 44°C, flow at the normal sites was 7.9±0.3 mL /min per 100 g of tissue vs 12.9±0.6 at dermopathy sites (P.01 for both comparisons). Conclusions: Although patients with diabetic dermopathyexhibitedreducedskinbloodflowcomparedwithnondiabetic volunteers, flow levels were considerably higher atthedermopathysitesthanatcontiguousuninvolvedskin sites. These results refute the hypothesis that diabetic dermopathyrepresentslocalischemia.However,itisstillpossible that the scarring represented by dermopathy lesions is related to decreased skin perfusion due to diabetes. Arch Dermatol. 2004;140:1248-1250