NECROBIOSIS LIPOIDICA AND GRANULOMA ANNULARE

Abstract

A review of the literature on necrobiosis lipoidica disclosed that a few investigators¹have expressed the opinion that granuloma annulare and necrobiosis lipoidica may be closely related diseases. One of us (F. A. E.) presented evidence suggesting that many cases presented under titles such as "sarcoid" or "tuberculosis with sclerodermatous changes" should have been classified as instances of necrobiosis lipoidica or granuloma annulare. The present study consists of: (a) a consideration of the hitherto generally or commonly accepted concepts of the two diseases; (b) a review of the literature and critical analysis of the cases presented as instances of necrobiosis lipoidica and an analysis of the cases of granuloma annulare in theArchives of DermatologyandSyphilologyfrom 1930 to 1940; (c) an analysis of clinical features of a group of 43 patients observed by us at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, the University of Maryland Hospital and in our