Skin manifestations of systemic disease

This article provides an overview of some of the common dermatological disorders that are of particular interest to the acute physician. These conditions are classified under three major headings: i) autoimmune diseases involving the skin (lupus erythematosus, dermatomyositis, scleroderma, lichen sclerosus and vitiligo); ii) multisystem diseases with skin manifestations (diabetes mellitus, thyroid disease, hyperlipidaemia, sarcoidosis and porphyria cutanea tarda); and iii) individual dermatoses associated with internal disorders (pyoderma gangrenosum and paraneoplastic dermatoses).