A lipoma is a benign tumor made of fat tissue. They are generally soft to the touch, movable, and painless. They usually occur just under the skin, but occasionally may be deeper. Most are less than 5 cm (2.0 in) in size. Common locations include upper back, shoulders, and abdomen. It is possible to have several lipomas.
Limb–girdle muscular dystrophy (LGMD) is a genetically heterogeneous group of rare muscular dystrophies that share a set of clinical characteristics. It is characterised by progressive muscle wasting which affects predominantly hip and shoulder muscles. LGMD usually has an autosomal pattern of inheritance. It currently has no known cure or treatment.
A benign tumor is a mass of cells (tumor) that does not invade neighboring tissue or metastasize. Compared to malignant (cancerous) tumors, benign tumors generally have a slower growth rate. Benign tumors have relatively well differentiated cells. They are often surrounded by an outer surface or stay contained within the epithelium. Common examples of benign tumors include moles and uterine fibroids.
Polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) is a syndrome experienced as pain or stiffness, usually in the neck, shoulders, upper arms, and hips, but which may occur all over the body. The pain can be sudden or can occur gradually over a period. Most people with PMR wake up in the morning with pain in their muscles; however, cases have occurred in which the person has developed the pain during the evenings or has pain and stiffness all day long.
A hamartoma is a mostly benign, local malformation of cells that resembles a neoplasm of local tissue but is usually due to an overgrowth of multiple aberrant cells, with a basis in a systemic genetic condition, rather than a growth descended from a single mutated cell (monoclonality), as would typically define a benign neoplasm/tumor. Despite this, many hamartomas are found to have clonal chromosomal aberrations that are acquired through somatic mutations, and on this basis the term hamartoma is sometimes considered synonymous with neoplasm. Hamartomas are by definition benign, slow-growing or self-limiting, though the underlying condition may still predispose the individual towards malignancies.
Cowden syndrome is an autosomal dominant inherited condition characterized by benign overgrowths called hamartomas as well as an increased lifetime risk of breast, thyroid, uterine, and other cancers. It is often underdiagnosed due to variability in disease presentation, but 99% of patients report mucocutaneous symptoms by age 20–29. Despite some considering it a primarily dermatologic condition, Cowden's syndrome is a multi-system disorder that also includes neurodevelopmental disorders such as macrocephaly.
Mitochondrial myopathies are types of myopathies associated with mitochondrial disease. Adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the chemical used to provide energy for the cell, cannot be produced sufficiently by oxidative phosphorylation when the mitochondrion is either damaged or missing necessary enzymes or transport proteins. With ATP production deficient in mitochondria, there is an over-reliance on anaerobic glycolysis which leads to lactic acidosis either at rest or exercise-induced.
Lipomatosis is believed to be an autosomal dominant condition in which multiple lipomas are present on the body. Many discrete, encapsulated lipomas form on the trunk and extremities, with relatively few on the head and shoulders. In 1993, a genetic polymorphism within lipomas was localized to chromosome 12q15, where the HMGIC gene encodes the high-mobility-group protein isoform I-C. This is one of the most commonly found mutations in solitary lipomatous tumors but lipomas often have multiple mutations. Reciprocal translocations involving chromosomes 12q13 and 12q14 have also been observed within.
Dercum's disease is a rare condition characterized by multiple painful fatty tumors, called lipomas, that can grow anywhere in subcutaneous fat from scalp to plantar surface of the foot. Sometimes referred as adiposis dolorosa in medical literature, Dercum’s disease is more of a syndrome than a disease. While the term adiposis dolorosa may be correct, the term Dercum's disease is more often used, along with the acronym DD.
Injection lipolysis is a controversial cosmetic procedure in which drug mixtures are injected into patients with the goal of destroying fat cells. This practice, using drugs generally based on phosphatidylcholine and deoxycholate (PCDC), evolved from the initial intravenous use of those drug formulations to treat blood disorders.
Otto Wilhelm Madelung was a German surgeon who was a native of Gotha. His son, physicist Erwin Madelung (1881–1972), discovered the Madelung constant.
Frontonasal dysplasia (FND) is a congenital malformation of the midface. For the diagnosis of FND, a patient should present at least two of the following characteristics: hypertelorism, a wide nasal root, vertical midline cleft of the nose and/or upper lip, cleft of the wings of the nose, malformed nasal tip, encephalocele or V-shaped hair pattern on the forehead. The cause of FND remains unknown. FND seems to be sporadic (random) and multiple environmental factors are suggested as possible causes for the syndrome. However, in some families multiple cases of FND were reported, which suggests a genetic cause of FND.
A hibernoma is a benign neoplasm of vestigial brown fat. The term was originally used by the French anatomist Louis Gery in 1914.
Neural fibrolipoma is an overgrowth of fibro-fatty tissue along a nerve trunk that often leads to nerve compression. These only occur in the extremities, and often affect the median nerve. They are rare, very slow-growing, and their origin is unknown. It is believed that they may begin growth in response to trauma. They are not encapsulated by any sort of covering or sheath around the growth itself, as opposed to other cysts beneath the skin that often are. This means there are loosely defined margins of this lipoma. Despite this, they are known to be benign. Neural fibrolipomas are often more firm and tough to the touch than other lipomas. They are slightly mobile under the skin, and compress with pressure.
Mammary-type myofibroblastoma (MFB), also named mammary and extramammary myofibroblastoma, was first termed myofibrolastoma of the breast, or, more simply, either mammary myofibroblastoma (MMFB) or just myofibroblastoma. The change in this terminology occurred because the initial 1987 study and many subsequent studies found this tumor only in breast tissue. However, a 2001 study followed by numerous reports found tumors with the microscopic histopathology and other key features of mammary MFB in a wide range of organs and tissues. Further complicating the issue, early studies on MFB classified it as one of various types of spindle cell tumors that, except for MFB, were ill-defined. These other tumors, which have often been named interchangeably in different reports, are: myelofibroblastoma, benign spindle cell tumor, fibroma, spindle cell lipoma, myogenic stromal tumor, and solitary stromal tumor. Finally, studies suggest that spindle cell lipoma and cellular angiofibroma are variants of MFB. Here, the latter two tumors are tentatively classified as MFB variants but otherwise MFB is described as it is more strictly defined in most recent publications. The World Health Organization in 2020 classified mammary type myofibroblastoma tumors and myofibroblastoma tumors as separate tumor forms within the category of fibroblastic and myofibroblastic tumors.
Encephalocraniocutaneous lipomatosis (ECCL), is a rare condition primarily affecting the brain, eyes, and skin of the head and face. It is characterized by unilateral subcutaneous and intracranial lipomas, alopecia, unilateral porencephalic cysts, epibulbar choristoma and other ophthalmic abnormalities. This condition is described as sporadic because it occurs in people without a history of the disorder in their family.
Familial multiple lipomatosis is a hereditary adipose tissue disorder that is characterized by the formation of multiple lipomas that occur in a particular distribution. The lipomas are well-encapsulated, slow-growing, benign fatty tumors. The distribution is defined as being focused in the trunk of the body and extremities. Familial Multiple Lipomatosis can be identified when multiple lipomas occur in multiple family members that span different generations. Some people may have hundreds of lipomas present.
Calpainopathy is the most common type of autosomal recessive limb-girdle muscular dystrophy (LGMD). It preferentially affects the muscles of the hip girdle and shoulder girdle.
Pseudohypertrophy, or false enlargement, is an increase in the size of an organ due to infiltration of a tissue not normally found in that organ. It is commonly applied to enlargement of a muscle due to infiltration of fat or connective tissue, famously in Duchenne muscular dystrophy. This is in contrast with typical muscle hypertrophy, in which the muscle tissue itself increases in size. Because pseudohypertrophy is not a result of increased muscle tissue, the muscles look bigger but are actually atrophied and thus weaker. Pseudohypertrophy is typically the result of a disease, which can be a disease of muscle or a disease of the nerve supplying the muscle.
Pseudoathletic appearance is a medical sign meaning to have the false appearance of a well-trained athlete due to pathologic causes instead of true athleticism. It is also referred to as a Herculean or bodybuilder-like appearance. It may be the result of muscle inflammation, muscle hyperplasia, muscle hypertrophy, muscle pseudohypertrophy, or symmetrical subcutaneous deposits of fat or other tissue.
