LOCALIZED SOLID EDEMA OF THE EXTREMITIES IN ASSOCIATION WITH EXOPHTHALMIC GOITER

Abstract

The relationship between the glands of internal secretion and certain types of dermatosis that accompany dysfunction of these glands is little understood. Among the best known of the clinical pictures is myxedema, the result of hypofunctioning of the thyroid gland. The changes in the skin associated with the hyperfunctional disturbances of the thyroid gland are not so characteristic nor so pathognomonic and are less frequently recognized. In spite of the fact that myxedema is not an exceptionally rare disease, little is known of the mechanism or of the chemistry of the cutaneous deposit which produces the characteristic clinical appearance. It is my purpose in reporting this series of eight cases, which presented identical cutaneous complications, in association with hyperthyroidism of the exophthalmic goiter type, not only to call the attention of dermatologists to this entity but also to discuss the clinical and the microscopic features of these cases in their