[Diabetic hand syndrome in juvenile diabetes]

Patients with Type I diabetes may develop a scleroderma-like syndrome, including limitation of joint mobility. This syndrome, cherioarthropathy, is considered a complication of diabetes, but its cause is unknown. We examined 30 Jewish and 13 Arab patients in our juvenile diabetes clinic for skin and joint involvement. Signs of cherioarthropathy in both hands were found in 13 children (30.2%); all had skin changes and 6 (13.5%) also had articular involvement of the hands. There was no correlation between the presence of cherioarthropathy and the patient's age or the duration of diabetes. The syndrome was significantly more frequent among Arabs (8/15, 61.5%) than Jewish children (5/30, 16.6%), p less than 0.01. There was a indirect correlation between incidence of cherioarthropathy and adequacy of glycemic control, but no difference in glycemic control between Arab and Jewish children. This may indicate a genetic factor in the development of cherioarthropathy in juvenile diabetes.