Skin lesions of the legs and feet and skeletal lesions of the feet in familail amyloidosis with polyneuropathy.

Twenty-one patients with familial amyloidosis and polyneuropathy have been examined for the presence of skin lesions, localized to the lower legs and feet. The lesions were classified as atrophic skin lesions, hypertrophic scar-like skin lesions, rubeosis plantarum, spontaneous blisters, necrotic skin lesions, yellow nails, traumatic skin lesions, purpura and abundant pigmented small non-atrophic spots. Skeletal destructions in the feet were also demonstrated. In many respects these lesions are similar to those of long-standing diabetes mellitus. I studied the cutaneous reactions to local thermal trauma with heat and cold to the legs and forearms in 11 patients. Petechiae were observed within the area of traumatization with either heat or cold more often in patients than in controls. Four of the 11 patients developed atrophic circumscribed skin lesions at the site of traumatization.