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Dercum's disease

What is Dercum's disease?

Dermis disease is also known as painful adiposis. It is a rare disease characterized by a combination of characteristics:

  • Multiple encapsulated excessive growth of fat (lipomas) on the trunk and extremities
  • Painful subcutaneous plates
  • Ecchymosis (bruises) without noticing trauma

Dermis disease can be associated with obesity, emotional distress, and fatigue.

It was first described in 1892 by Dercum, who called the disease "painful adiposis" to describe the painful adiposities (fat accumulations) observed in his 3 patients.

Multiple painful lipomas

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Painful lipomas

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Painful lipomas

Who gets Dercum's disease?

  • Stroke disease affects women more often than men (reportedly 5 to 30 times more common in women than men)
  • It usually appears between 35 and 50 years of age.
  • It may be more common in people with obesity.

Most people with Dercum's disease have no family history of Dercum's disease. However, the disease has been reported to show a autosomal Dominant pattern of inheritance in some families (that is, the children of someone with Dercum's disease have a 1 in 2 chance of developing it too).

How is Dercum's disease diagnosed?

A diagnosis of Dercum's disease can be made by systematic physical examination and identification of the characteristic triad of features (multiple lipomas, painful plaques, and obesity).

Multiple lipomas can also be characteristic of:

  • Multiple lipomatosis (family or sporadic)
  • Fibromyalgia
  • Panniculitis
  • Obesity without painful plaques.

  • Cushing syndrome, which can also lead to abnormal fat distribution and ecchymosis

A biopsy can be useful to distinguish a lipoma from a angiolipoma (another type of painful fat overgrowth).

Other lesions that can simulate lipomas include

  • Epidermoid cysts (which generally have a central punctum)
  • Hibernoma (a benign brown fat growth)
  • Lipofascial hernia (a hernia in the anus or perianal region)
  • Lipoedema

What is the treatment for Dercum's disease?

Bowel disease appears to benefit from the patient's weight loss. Surgical excision Or liposuction of selected lipomas can help, especially when they are in inconvenient places. Surgical excision of many lipomas is generally not considered useful and is at risk of surgical complications.

Conventional pain relievers do not appear to reduce the discomfort associated with Dercum's disease. Some reports suggest that a local anesthetic injection or patch It can provide relief for intractable pain.