[Acroangiodermatitis and acral hyperstomia (author's transl)].

Acroangiodermatitis is a special form of the 'angiodermite' of Favre and Chaix in patients presenting with chronic venous insufficiency localized on the dorsal areas of the feet and toes. Different stages including exulceration may occur. 60% of our male and 38% of our female patients with postthrombotic syndrome showed signs of acroangiodermatitis. Developmental arteriovenous malformations in the feet (acral hyperstomia, Malan's syndrome; 1 patient) which may present similar clinical and histological pictures are rare and should be differentiated from acroangiodermatitis because their prognosis is more severe, necessitating amputation in some instances. The determination of shunt volume by means of radioactive-labelled macroalbumin or microspheres helps to differentiate these two conditions. Because both conditions may present similarities with Kaposi sarcoma, the term 'pseudo-Kaposi' was chosen by some authors. One factor of pathogenetic importance for the terminal vascular changes underlying both conditions is the insufficiency of the calf muscle pump resulting in an elevated capillary pressure (anatomical insufficiency in acroangiodermatitis, functional insufficiency in acral hyperstomia).