Diagnosis of metabolic storage disease can be established by the determination of enzymes or storage material in blood, urine, or several tissues or by clinical parameters. Identification of the accumulated storage products is possible by biochemical analysis of isolated material, by histochemical demonstration in sections, or by ultrastructural demonstration of typical inclusion bodies. In order to determine the significance of such inclusions in human skin biopsies several types of metabolic storage disease were investigated. The following results were obtained.In MPS type I (Pfaundler-Hurler-Syndrome), type II (Hunter-Syndrome), and type V (Ullrich-Scheie-Syndrome) mainly “empty” vacuoles were found in skin fibroblasts, in Schwann cells, keratinocytes and macrophages (Dorfmann and Matalon 1972). In addition, prominent vacuolisation was found in eccrine sweat glands. The storage material could be preserved in part by fixation with cetylpyridiniumchloride and was also present within fibroblasts grown in tissue culture.