From time to time cases of localized or circumscribed myxedema appear in the medical literature. Without a doubt there are many such cases which are unrecognized or unreported.
Because the science of endocrinology is still in the stage of adolescence and because knowledge of cutaneous physiology is meager, the chemical, physiologic and endocrine factors in circumscribed myxedema still belong in the realm of theory.
Circumscribed myxedema is a form of myxomatous degeneration associated with dysfunction of the thyroid gland. Whereas the edema of true myxedema, in the medical sense, is not usually evident until the basal metabolic rate has dropped to — 18 or —20 per cent, the objective changes of circumscribed myxedema may make their appearance concomitant with the degree of elevation of the basal metabolic rate usually associated with a severe grade of hyperthyroidism.
In the majority of instances circumscribed myxedema follows thyroidectomy and appears simultaneously with