Skin Manifestations of Chronic Acidosis

Abstract

The literature contains a number of references to the skin changes in chronic renal disease. The opinions regarding the cause of these skin changes are varied. Fishberg²considers the typical dryness of the skin in the uremic patient as due not primarily to nitrogen retention but rather to a compensatory polyuria leading to dehydration of all tissues, including the skin. Rosenthal,⁶in an intensive histological study of uremic dermatitis, demonstrated that the urea in the skin was directly proportioned to the urea in the blood. The purpose of this report is to call attention to the syndrome of dryness, scaling, and itching of the skin with loss of hair, particularly on the arms and legs, which is associated with chronic acidosis and is, at least partly, reversible with proper therapy. All sodium and potassium determinations were performed with a Barkley flame photometer, with use