[Causes of leg ulcers. Analysis of the data from a dermatologic wound care center]

The etiology of chronic leg ulcers is very heterogeneous. The primary aim of our investigation was to analyze the etiology of leg ulcers in patients treated in our wound care center over a period of 5 years. In this open retrospective study, data of 354 patients was analyzed. We found a venous leg ulcer in 203 (57%), and in 52 (15%) patients a combined arterio-venous induced leg ulcer. The third most common cause was leg ulcers due to different types of vasculitis in 47 (13%) patients. An exclusively arterial induced leg ulcer was diagnosed in 13 (3.7%) patients. Overall 16 different etiologies were identified. In contrast to the few comparable other investigations, we found a higher incidence of immunologic und infectious causes for leg ulcers in our patients. Even if our results do not allow a representative overview about the prevalence of leg ulcer in Germany, they demonstrate the wide spectrum of leg ulcer causes in a dermatologic wound care centre.