NECROBIOSIS LIPOIDICA DIABETICORUM: REPORT OF A CASE WITH CLINICAL, PATHOLOGIC AND BIOCHEMICAL OBSERVATIONS

According to a recent review of the literature,1necrobiosis lipoidica diabeticorum is a rare condition; the case to be reported here is the fifteenth. This low incidence, however, may be more apparent than real; there is reason to suspect that with improvement in diagnosis the incidence will be found to be greater than that recognized at present. One of us (I. M. R.) has the impression that in the past the condition was overlooked among his own cases of diabetes, and Joslin2expressed the same opinion ; at the time he made the statement there were six patients with suspected necrobiosis lipoidica diabeticorum in one clinic in Boston. However, these are clinical impressions only; according to histologic studies there is still reason to believe that the condition is rare. The clinical appearance of necrobiosis lipoidica diabeticorum and the histologic picture, according to the extent, the stage and the