26286 Familial multiple lipomatosis: A reported case and brief review of similar diagnoses characterized by multiple lipomas

Abstract

Familial multiple lipomatosis (FML) is a rare genetic disorder characterized by many encapsulated lipomas with a predilection for the trunk and extremities. Although it is benign, it carries with it a distinctive clinical presentation. FML should be distinguished from multiple symmetric lipomatosis (MSL), characterized by symmetric fatty infiltration of underlying tissue typically in the neck and shoulder areas and associated with alcoholism. There is a very low risk of malignant transformation to liposarcoma from lipomas of FML. The only treatment for FML is excision, and the concerns are usually cosmetic. We present a case of FML in a 48-year-old male with multiple subcutaneous soft nodules on the arms and lower trunk since the age of 14. We also conduct a brief review of the literature of FML as well as MSL and sporadic multiple lipomatosis, a separate disorder with clinical similarity to FML but with no documented family history of multiple lipomas.