Lipidized dermatofibromas and their relationship to serum lipids.

BACKGROUND

Lipidized dermatofibromas represent a rare variant of dermatofibroma that has been regarded as an incidental finding with no particular clinical significance.

OBJECTIVE

The goal of this study was to investigate the relationship between lipidized dermatofibromas and patient age, anatomic location, and serum total cholesterol.

METHODS

A retrospective case control format was used with an experimental group containing patients with biopsy-proven lipidized dermatofibromas and a control group containing patients with nonlipidized dermatofibromas.

RESULTS

Ages in the experimental group ranged from 35 to 75 years with a mean value of 53 years whereas ages in the control group ranged from 27 to 72 years with a mean value of 48 years. A comparison between the mean of the ages between the two groups using the t test method showed no statistically significant difference (P = .09). Lesion location on the body was grouped into 4 sites: leg, thigh, trunk, and upper extremity. Of the 23 patients in the experimental group, 10 had lesions on the legs, 5 had lesions on the thighs, 2 had lesions on the trunk, and 5 had lesions on the upper extremities. Of the 41 patients in the control group, 15 had lesions on the legs, 7 had lesions on the thighs, 9 had lesions on the trunk, and 10 had lesions on the upper extremities. A comparison between the two groups showed no statistically significant difference (P = .60). In all, 16 of the 23 patients in the experimental group and 24 of the 41 patients in the control group were considered to have high cholesterol. A comparison showed no statistically significant difference between the cholesterol levels of the two groups (P = .38).

LIMITATIONS

Limitations that we encountered during the study included the relative infrequency of lipidized dermatofibromas, limiting the number of patients in the study. In addition, medication histories and lipid levels on patients were not always available. In addition, we formed a control group from people who had their cholesterol checked often, which may cause them to have a higher average cholesterol than that of the general population.

CONCLUSIONS

Our data show that lipidized dermatofibromas do not differ clinically from nonlipidized dermatofibromas in age distribution of patients, tumor location, or underlying serum lipid levels.