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Australian Family Physician
Australian Family Physician

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Volume 38, Issue 7, July 2009

Skin manifestations of systemic disease

Adriene Lee
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Background
Dermatologic complaints are a common reason for presentation to a general practitioner. In some cases, one needs to determine if the complaint may be a manifestation of a more serious underlying systemic disease.
Objective
This article aims to highlight common dermatologic presentations where further assessment is needed to exclude an underlying systemic disease, to discuss classic cutaneous features of specific systemic diseases, and to outline rare cutaneous paraneoplastic syndromes.
Discussion
Skin manifestations of systemic disease are wide, varied, specific and nonspecific. Generalised pruritus and cutaneous vasculitis are more common cutaneous presentations where an underlying systemic disease may be present and will influence management. In certain chronic diseases such as connective tissue disease and chronic liver disease, there are characteristic cutaneous findings. Internal malignancies such as multiple myeloma may present with distinctive cutaneous findings, which need to be recognised to institute a search for the underlying neoplasm. The skin has the potential to provide a window into the patient and aid in the diagnosis of diseases of all organ systems.

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