32. Diabetes Mellitus

Trophic signs and symptoms characterising the diabetic foot can be the presenting features of the generalised disease, but usually there is an overlap with a known condition, often with unstable ketosis. The presentation can be extremely polymorphic, and while in earlier times involvement of the foot was considered rare, the majority of modern authors recognise its real frequency and gravity, the latter shown by the associated osteo-angioneuropathic disorders. Mirouze (1968) estimated that one diabetic in ten suffers from foot problems.