Complex disorders of the carbohydrate metabolism and associated
complications cause many abnormalities detectable by radiography in the
bones and joints. Mild clinical symptoms associated with very severe
radiological changes were first rec- ognized in relation to the
gastroenterologic complications of diabetes. This phenomenon is more
frequent in the skeletal system. For example, mild and painless swelling
of the foot joints may often mask extremely severe bone destruction.
Several other bone changes associated with diabetes are only detectable
by radiography. Thus, the radiologist plays an important role in
confirming these diabetic complications, furthermore he is involved in
the therapeutic management of the patient. Although many details on this
subject have been published, however no summarizing monograph has yet
appeared. Manuals discussing diabetes include only short reviews on
complications of the osseous system. The fact that the incidence of
diabetes is very high, at present 1 %-2 % of the population is affected
and their number is gradually increasing - dis- plays the timeliness of
this subject. Fifty years of experience with insulin therapy indicates
that several important problems still remain to be solved. Insulin and
modern oral antidia- betic drugs proved extremely efficient in the
management of hyperglycemia and ketosis, but the incidence of other
complications has not decreased. Moreover, as the number of diabetics
and their life expectancy increase, late complications become likewise
more fre- quent. Diabetic osteoarthropathy is one of these
complications.
