Although it is commonly accepted that necrobiosis lipoidica (NL) is associa
ted with diabetes mellitus (DM), there is some controversy regarding the de
gree of this association. In a retrospective review of 65 patients with NL
attending our dermatology out-patient clinics we found that just seven (11%
) were known to have DM at the time of presentation. Seven further patients
(11%) were diagnosed as having impaired glucose tolerance/DM at presentati
on and over a 15-year follow-up period. Thus, only a minority of our patien
ts with NL had DM.