[Leg ulcer complicated by secondary amyloidosis]

A 76-year-old woman with a chronic leg ulcer for the last thirty-seven years was hospitalized in our institution for chronic diarrhea and terminal kidney failure with proteinuria. The diagnosis of secondary amyloidosis due to persistent skin inflammation was confirmed by aspiration of subcutaneous abdominal fat and by kidney biopsy which showed AA type systemic amyloidosis. This appears to be a rare complication of chronic leg ulcers as there have been only eight publications covering eleven cases in the literature.