title: [Leg ulcers].
abstract: The lower leg is in particular prone to the development of ulceration. Many different causes may lead to ulceration. Thus, a thorough diagnosis is mandatory, and a biopsy is often required. By far the most common type is the classical venous ulcer due to chronic venous insufficiency, located at the medial ankle. A more complicated-and more difficult to treat-type of venous ulcer is arthrogenic congestion syndrome with its extreme variant of a "legging" ulcer. In cases with severe peripheral arterial disease, an arterial ulcer may develop. The hypertensive ulcer Martorell is associated with arterial hypertension and diabetes; the underlying pathology is occlusion of arteriolar vessels. A typical diabetic ulceration is the necrobiosis lipoidica. Important differential diagnoses of leg ulceration include pyoderma gangrenosum and the calciphylactic ulcer. Due to a long-standing course, an ulceration may turn malignant. Vice versa, ulceration may occur as sign of a primary malignant lesion.
authors.affiliation: Klinik für Dermatologie und Allergologie, Krankenhaus Dresden-Friedrichstadt, Städtisches Klinikum, Akademisches Lehrkrankenhaus der TU Dresden, Friedrichstr. 41, 01067, Dresden, Deutschland, wollina-uw@khdf.de.
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Wollina
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Unger
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Stelzner
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Machetanz
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schellong
mesh_terms: D002115:Calciphylaxis / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D048909:Diabetes Complications / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006801:Humans; D006940:Hyperemia / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006973:Hypertension / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D007871:Leg Ulcer / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D014689:Venous Insufficiency / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*