Cutaneous signs of systemic disease.

In this article we have discussed briefly some of the important diseases in which a thorough skin examination is of help in evaluation and diagnosis of patients in an emergency department. Changes in the skin, for instance, may be the first clue of an internal malignancy. Disorders associated with gastrointestinal bleeding, endocrine abnormalities, and/or epilepsy can have prominent cutaneous manifestations. Thus, an awareness of the unusual findings is of value to the emergency medicine physician.