[Diabetes-specific hand changes in type I diabetes mellitus].

Diabetes-specific hand alterations (cheirarthropathy) were observed in 44 out of a total of 215 children and adolescents with insulin-dependent diabetes. In 28 of them limitations of movement in the proximal or (and) distal interphalangeal joints of one finger, and in the remaining 16 patients changes of at least two fingers were seen. Hand and shoulder joints or the vertebral column were not affected. In a control group of 110 probands without metabolic disorder only five showed cheirarthropathy. The frequency of diabetes-specific alterations of the hand increased with the age of the patients, the duration of diabetes and insulin requirements. In particular, the quality of metabolic control is of paramount importance for the as yet unclear pathogenesis of cheirarthropathy.