[Hypervascularisation in diabetic patients shown by angiography (author's transl)]

Two diabetic patients are described who showed widened and tortuous arteries, increased blood flow and increased filling of small arteries, with simultaneous filling of arteries and veins (increased flow through arterio-venous anastomoses). In one patient, during an observation period of four years, occlusion of both common iliacs developed, as well as a block of one femoral artery and mural changes in the other. Inthe second patient, areas of occlusion and hypervascularisation co-existed. The first patient showed osteolytic changes, also involving the joints, whereas the second patient developed diffuse rarefaction of the bones in the leg and foot. Ischaemic necroses developed inthe soft tissues in both patients and leg amputation was therefore carried out. The angiographic and skeletal findings, however, suggest that the soft tissues suffered trophic changes which should be regarded as a secondary complication of the ischaemia.