This is a listing of the all the references I've found (so far) that discuss Dercum's disease or Adiposis Dolorosa or some aspect that might be of interest. Sometimes there is only the title (typically of foreign language articles) because no abstract is available. The Pub Med document number is included for reference. Web author comments are in blue (like this statement). A few of the articles have links that allow you access the actual article. Dr. Dercum's article (#64) and some other older ones have been recently added and can be found at the bottom of the list.
#1 Humangenetik 1973 Mar 23;18(1):89-91
PMID: 4721343, UI: 73226373
#2 Am Fam Physician 1981 Nov;24(5):155-7
PMID: 7293909, UI: 82043245
#3 Vestn Khir 1969 Jun;102(6):123-4
[Article in Russian]
PMID: 5368795, UI: 70103590
#4 Klin Med (Mosk) 1976 Jun;54(6):119-21
[Article in Russian]
PMID: 972499, UI: 77010166
#5 Ned Tijdschr Geneeskd 1982 Jun 19;126(25):1134-8
[Article in Dutch]
PMID: 7110410, UI: 82272522
#6 Vrach Delo 1965 Aug;8:135-6
[Article in Russian]
PMID: 5870968, UI: 67021781
#7 Univ Mich Med Cent J 1967 Mar-Apr;33(2):79-81
PMID: 6041745, UI: 67251805
#8 Tidsskr Nor Laegeforen 1986 Aug 20;106(23):1820-2
[Article in Norwegian]
PMID: 3764857, UI: 87019794
#9 Vestn Khir 1983 Aug;131(8):58-9
[Article in Russian]
PMID: 6649283, UI: 84074706
#10 Klin Med (Mosk) 1970 Jul;48(7):133-6
[Article in Russian]
PMID: 5533253, UI: 71112772
#11 An Otorrinolaringol Ibero Am 1996;23(4):435-40
[Article in Spanish]
Servicio de Otorrinolaringologia, Hospital Virgen de la Concha, Insalud, Zamora.
Adiposis dolorosa (Dercum's disease) is a rare fat-tissue malady most frequently presenting in middle-aged women as fatty lumps in the body. Its etiology and pathogenesis isn't known. Two female patients are reported who had symptomatic adiposis dolorosa (32 and 62-year-old).
PMID: 8967567, UI: 97053090
#12 Ann Plast Surg 1994 Dec;33(6):664-8
Department of Plastic Surgery, Assaf HaRofeh Medical Center, Tzrifin, Israel.
Adiposis dolorosa is a disease characterized by painful, subcutaneous fatty tumors. This disorder usually occurs in obese, postmenopausal women and is associated with weakness and mental disturbances such as depression, confusion, lethargy, and dementia. The cause is unknown, and there is no specific treatment. Pain may be relieved by steroids, intravenous lidocaine, or analgesics. Surgical treatment consists of excision or liposuction of the painful masses. We present two cases of adiposis dolorosa in men, with a follow-up of more than 10 years.
PMID: 7880063, UI: 95185782
[It's predominantly a disease affecting women, and they do their follow-up on two men!]
#13 Klin Med (Mosk) 1970 Mar;48(3):134-6
[Article in Russian]
PMID: 5452160, UI: 70268050
#14 Ugeskr Laeger 1992 Jun 29;154(27):1914-5
[Article in Danish]
Publication Types:
Comments:
PMID: 1509554, UI: 92376921
#15 Vestn Dermatol Venerol 1984 Feb;(2):41-2
[Article in Russian]
PMID: 6720070, UI: 84198509
#16 Klin Khir 1978 May;(5):81-2
[Article in Russian]
PMID: 661092, UI: 78197676
#17 Clin Orthop 1986 Apr;205:251-253
Dercum's disease consists of multiple, painful lipomata and occurs in obese, postmenopausal women. A 52-year-old obese woman complained of multiple painful "lumps" in the extremities. The diagnosis of Dercum's disease (adiposis dolorosa) was established by excisional biopsy of four tumors. There is no effective treatment for this condition. Surgical excision, in this case, relieved the patient's symptoms locally, but after one year the painful lipomata had appeared at other sites. Case reports of this condition were not found in a review of the orthopedic literature.
PMID: 3698384, UI: 86190795
[Imagine if these doctors expanded their review outside of the orthopedic literature...]
#18 Braz J Med Biol Res 1992;25(9):889-893
Departamento de Clinica Medica, Faculdade de Medicina de Botucatu, Universidade Estadual Paulista, Botucatu, SP, Brasil.
A case of a 43-year-old nonobese woman with adiposis dolorosa (Dercum's disease) is reported. Muscle glucose uptake and oxidation before and after ingestion of 75 g of glucose were similar to control group values, although a greater insulin release (16,578 vs 6,242 +/- 1,136 microU/3 h) occurred simultaneously. In vitro studies of abdominal normal and painful subcutaneous adipose tissue of the patient revealed lower responsiveness to norepinephrine and lack of response to the antilipolytic effect of insulin in the painful adipose tissue (0.98 vs 1.43 microM FFA/10(6) cells at 5.0 microM of norepinephrine). The disease was not correlated with the HLA system and there were no alterations in hormonal secretion at the pituitary, adrenal, gonadal, and thyroid levels. These findings indicate the presence of peripheral insulin resistance in this patient with adiposis dolorosa.
PMID: 1342834, UI: 94115294
#19 Sov Med 1969;32(5):137-8
[Article in Russian]
PMID: 5379364, UI: 70153387
#20 Ugeskr Laeger 1991 Dec 9;153(50):3564
[Article in Danish]
Medicinsk afdeling F, Kovenhavns Amts Sygehus i Glostrup.
Adiposis dolorosa or Dercum's disease consists of a painful progressive localized state of obesity with four cardinal symptoms: a) painful circumscribed or diffuse fatty deposits, b) generalized obesity in women usually of menopausal age, c) asthenia, weakness and frequently tendency to fatigue and d) mental phenomena including emotional instability, depression, epilepsy, mental confusion and true dementia. Only a few cases in men have been described. The pain may be treated with intravenous administration of lignocaine or oral mexitil while no causal treatment is known. An illustrative case is reported.
PMID: 1776200, UI: 92132944
#21 Pain 1987 Jan;28(1):77-80
Dercum's disease (adiposis dolorosa) is associated with very painful subcutaneous fatty deposits normally localized to the lower extremities in which pain treatment is usually unsuccessful. Two patients with Dercum's disease have been treated repeatedly with intravenous lidocaine for several months each time resulting in immediate pain relief for 8 and 25 days respectively. Placebo infusions did not provide pain relief. Hereafter, the patients were treated with peroral mexiletine and again had complete pain relief. We conclude that intravenous lidocaine or peroral mexiletine may be an effective analgesic treatment in patients with Dercum's disease.
Publication Types:
PMID: 3822497, UI: 87145779
#22 J Am Podiatry Assoc 1979 Jun;69(6):389-91
PMID: 448038, UI: 79194870
#23 Isr J Med Sci 1983 Sep;19(9):858-9
PMID: 6643030, UI: 84060886
#24 Klin Med (Mosk) 1970 Jul;48(7):115-8
[Article in Russian]
PMID: 5533247, UI: 71112764
#25 Klin Med (Mosk) 1971 Sep;49(9):149-50
[Article in Russian]
PMID: 5112694, UI: 72024642
#26 Ann Med Psychol (Paris) 1984 May;142(5):730-7
[Article in French]
Publication Types:
PMID: 6391328, UI: 85070648
#27 J Am Acad Dermatol 1986 Aug;15(2 Pt 2):383-385
A 60-year-old woman with adiposis dolorosa for 20 years was treated with repeated intravenous infusions of lidocaine. Partial relief of pain in the legs was obtained after 1.3 gm. A dose of 5.2 gm lidocaine given for 4 days was needed for complete pain relief. The effect lasted for 3 weeks, and then the pain gradually returned. The patient has now been given two additional treatments with complete pain relief for 2 months. The mechanism of the effect remains unknown.
PMID: 3734188, UI: 86279023
#28 Patol Fiziol Eksp Ter 1972 Jan-Feb;16(1):47-51
[Article in Russian]
PMID: 5040062, UI: 72225557
#29 Plast Reconstr Surg 1990 Feb;85(2):289-292
Department of Surgery, Bowman Gray School of Medicine.
The clinical picture of adiposis dolorosa makes a lasting impression on the examining physician. The patient is typically an obese, asthenic woman who appears to have a low pain threshold. She has an unusual distribution of fatty tumors, and her complaint of pain in these tumors seems out of proportion to the physical findings. Alcoholism, emotional instability, and depression are common, and narcotic pain medicine is frequently requested. The patient is easily dismissed as a malingerer after a brief examination. However, liposuctioning of the painful fatty tumors appears to be both practical and effective. While adiposis dolorosa is an unusual disease, it is one that plastic surgeons can recognize and treat.
Comments:
PMID: 2300638, UI: 90139327
#30 Int J Obes 1982;6(4):351-357
Adiposis dolorosa (Dercum's disease) is a syndrome of painful adipose tissue which occurs most often in post-menopausal women and is associated with obesity, asthenia, and emotional disturbances. The etiology is uncertain, but is probably multifactorial. Numerous treatments to relieve the pain have generally been unsuccessful. A patient with adiposis dolorosa was treated with intravenous infusions of lidocaine over a two-year period. Relief from pain lasted from two to 12 months after each infusion. A single-blind placebo infusion did not relieve the pain. Lidocaine infusions did not relieve the pain of diabetic neuropathy or of angina in this patient. The mechanism of relief of pain of adiposis dolorosa by lidocaine is uncertain, but previously reported central effects of lidocaine suggest that alterations in the central nervous system may be responsible.
Publication Types:
PMID: 7129748, UI: 83029953
#31 Sov Med 1989;(2):111-3
[Article in Russian]
PMID: 2727773, UI: 89267157
#32 Wiad Lek 1977 Nov 1;30(21):1699-702
[Article in Polish]
PMID: 595598, UI: 78076508
#33 J Dermatol Surg Oncol 1989 Dec;15(12):1294-1296
Department of Medicine, Nashoba Community Hospital, Ayer, Massachusetts.
Dercum's disease, or adiposis dolorosa, is a rare condition characterized by painful lipomas, usually on the extremities of obese postmenopausal women. At present, there are no treatments known to alter the progressive course of this often incapacitating disease. Surgical intervention, while not preventive, is useful in ameliorating local symptoms of pain. We report a characteristic 15-year course of Dercum's disease.
Publication Types:
PMID: 2687341, UI: 90078826
#34 Acta Derm Venereol 1996 Mar;76(2):170-171
Publication Types:
PMID: 8740288, UI: 96312717
[NOTE: EMLA stands for a Eutectic Mixture of Local Anesthetics - i.e., pain killers]
#35 Pediatriia 1978;(1):76-7
[Article in Russian]
PMID: 634721, UI: 78136382
#36 Int J Obes 1986;10(4):277-81
The present report describes a 53-year-old non-obese man with adiposis dolorosa whose pain was dramatically relieved by the intravenous injection of lidocaine. The patient showed a paradoxical response of growth hormone to thyrotropin-releasing hormone. In addition, in-vitro studies on adipose tissue metabolism revealed the reduced glucose conversion to neutral glycerides in painful adipose tissue. These abnormalities may be related in some ways to the pathogenesis of this disorder.
PMID: 3771092, UI: 87032645
#37 Lakartidningen 1996 Apr 10;93(15):1430-1436
This is a very thorough overview article!
[English Translation] [Article in Swedish]
Plastikkirurgiska kliniken, Universitetssjukhuset MAS, Malmo.
Publication Types:
Personal Name as Subject:
PMID: 8667732, UI: 96248789
#38 Acta Derm Venereol 1986;66(4):337-339
Dercum's disease or adiposis dolorosa is a poorly understood disorder with painful fatty deposits in the skin localized to the lower extremities. The etiology is unknown. In such a patient the mechanisms of local regulation of blood flow in subcutaneous tissue was investigated by the local 133Xenon washout technique. The patient was reinvestigated one week after treatment with intravenous lidocaine. The local vasoconstrictor response to increase in venous transmural pressure was not present in this patient, but reappeared after lidocaine treatment. Autoregulation of blood flow in subcutaneous tissue was present before as well as after lidocaine treatment. It seems likely that a pain elicited increase in sympathetic activity in the vasoconstrictor fibres abolished the normal vasoconstrictor response to increase in venous transmural pressure. The mechanism of pain relief after intravenous lidocaine infusion is uncertain, but central as well as peripheral mechanisms may be considered.
PMID: 2430406, UI: 87044798
#39 Vrach Delo 1968 Jul;7:132-4
[Article in Russian]
PMID: 5744373, UI: 70157138
#40 Sov Med 1973 Dec;36(12):122
[Article in Russian]
PMID: 4779355, UI: 74103673
#41 Arthritis Rheum 1987 Dec;30(12):1436-7
Publication Types:
PMID: 3435575, UI: 88134439
#42 Biochem Soc Trans 1996 May;24(2):418-22
Hannah research Institute, Ayr, Scotland, U.K.
Publication Types:
PMID: 8736775, UI: 96346285
#43 Ann Rheum Dis 1990 Jun;49(6):403-4
Department of Rheumatology, Prince Charles Hospital, Merthyr Tydfil.
Two patients are presented who had symptomatic relief of juxta-articular adiposis dolorosa of the knees after liposuction. Liposuction is recommended for the treatment of this condition.
PMID: 2383065, UI: 90343437
#44 Ann Rheum Dis 1979 Oct;38(5):479-82
Juxta-articular adiposis dolorosa may be defined as the localised accumulation of painful fat near joints, most commonly the knee. It exists as a separate entity that must be distinguished from other causes of knee pain. We present 2 patients with this condition and review the literature. Various approaches to therapy are discussed. A classification of painful fat near joints is proposed.
PMID: 518149, UI: 80086633
#45 Anesth Analg 1976 Mar;55(2):257-259
Intractable pain in a patient with adiposis dolorosa (Dercum's disease) was treated by IV administration of lidocaine (200 to 400 mg). Relief was maximum 20 minutes after the end of drug infusion and persisted for over 10 hours. Toxicity was minimal. Slow EEG waves which appeared during drug administration disappeared within 20 minutes.
PMID: 943987, UI: 76158850
#46 Arch Dermatol 1991 Feb;127(2):231-3
Department of Dermatology, Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, Pa. 19107.
Long-term treatment with high doses of corticosteroids leads to the development of truncal obesity and focal fatty deposition. These deposits characteristically are located on the face, the nuchal and truncal areas, and episternally, as well as in the mediastinum and epicardium. We studied a patient with juxta-articular adiposis dolorosa who had L-tryptophan-associated eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome and was treated with high doses of prednisone. This is the first reported case of adiposis dolorosa occurring as a complication of corticosteroid treatment. Alterations of fat metabolism induced by corticosteroid excess may have played a role in the development of this unusual painful syndrome.
PMID: 1990989, UI: 91119441
#47 J Intern Med 1998 Mar;243(3):197-201
Department of Coagulation Disorders, University of Lund, Malmo University Hospital, Sweden. erik.berntorp@medforsk.mas.lu.se
OBJECTIVE: To study the impact of adipose tissue removal by liposuction on factors associated with increased risk of cardiovascular atherosclerotic disease within the coagulation and fibrinolytic system and glucose metabolism. DESIGN, SETTING AND SUBJECTS: Liposuction was performed in 53 patients with Dercum's disease. The levels of fibrinogen, von Willebrand factor antigen (VWF:Ag) and plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 activity (PAI-1) were measured preoperatively, and 2 weeks, 4 weeks and 3 months postoperatively. In a subsample of 10 patients, insulin sensitivity was determined before and 2-4 weeks after surgery using the 2-h euglycaemic hyperinsulinaemic clamp technique. The study was performed as a single-centre study. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Fibrinogen, PAI-1 and VWF:Ag levels, and glucose uptake before and after removal of adipose tissue. RESULTS: Weight reduction was sustained throughout the follow-up period with a mean decrease from 90.7 to 86.6 kg (P < 0.0001). There was a slight increase in levels of coagulation factors 2 and 4 weeks postoperatively, probably in reaction to the surgical trauma. After 3 months the values had returned to preoperative levels except for PAI-1, which still showed a slight increase (P < 0.05). In the subsample of 10 patients, glucose uptake was improved (P < 0.05) from a short-term perspective after surgery. CONCLUSION: Surgical removal of adipose tissue, without change in lifestyle, does not seem to improve the levels of coagulation and fibrinolytic factors associated with cardiovascular atherosclerotic disease, whereas glucose takeup may be facilitated and insulin sensitivity increases from a short-term perspective.
PMID: 9627156, UI: 98288845
#48 Acta Derm Venereol 1971;51(4):243-50
PMID: 4105769, UI: 71289061
#49 Ter Arkh 1967 Sep;39(9):112-4
[Article in Russian]
PMID: 5611699, UI: 69159460
#50 Tidsskr Nor Laegeforen 1987 Nov 30;107(33):2948-50
[Article in Norwegian]
PMID: 3433266, UI: 88127680
#51 Cent Afr J Med 1967 Feb;13(2):36
PMID: 6044299, UI: 67257113
#52 Seishin Shinkeigaku Zasshi 1976;78(2):133-45
[Article in Japanese]
PMID: 989911, UI: 77037137
#53 Zh Nevropatol Psikhiatr 1973;73(12):1800-6
[Article in Russian]
PMID: 4782243, UI: 74113775
#54 Lancet 1997 Aug 2;350(9074):334
Department of Surgery, Royal Gwent Hospital, Newport, UK.
A 64-year-old woman with Dercum's disease (adiposis dolorosa) attended the gynaecological clinic in February, 1996, with a 4-week history of lower left-sided abdominal and pelvic pain. An ultrasound scan showed uterine fibroids and she underwent hysterectomy and bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy. This did not relieve her symptoms and in July, 1996, she consulted her general practitioner with worsening pain.
PMID: 9251639, UI: 97395501
#55 Z Gesamte Inn Med 1974 Sep 1;29(17):726-8
[Article in German]
PMID: 4446680, UI: 75087509
#56 Fysiatr Revmatol Vestn 1975 Apr;53(2):65-74
[Article in Czech]
PMID: 1169206, UI: 75169275
#57 Clin Sci (Colch) 1991 Dec;81(6):793-798
Department of Internal Medicine, University Hospital of Lund, Sweden.
PMID: 1662586, UI: 92111089
#58 J Hepatol 1997 Dec;27(6):1141
Publication Types:
PMID: 9453446, UI: 98114191
#59 Int J Dermatol 1995 Jun;34(6):369-79
Department of Dermatology, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Israel.
Publication Types:
PMID: 7657432, UI: 95386280
#60 Clin Dermatol 1989 Oct-Dec;7(4):62-77
Department of Dermatology, Queens Medical Center, University Hospital, Nottingham, United Kingdom.
Publication Types:
PMID: 2691052, UI: 90106405
#61 Clin Rheumatol 1987 Sep;6(3):446-8
Rheumatology Unit, Beilinson Medical Center, Petah Tikva, Israel.
Juxta-articular adiposis dolorosa, i.e., painful fatty deposits around the joint may occur in postmenopausal obese women. The association of the syndrome with osteoarthritis has been described. The present report describes 2 women suffering from rheumatoid arthritis with painful fatty deposits around the knees. Both responded to local injection of corticosteroid. The possible pathogenesis of the source of pain is discussed.
PMID: 3442969, UI: 88165831
#62 Ann Dermatol Venereol 1987;114(6-7):873-82
[Article in French]
Clinique Dermatologique, Hospices Civils, Strasbourg.
Publication Types:
PMID: 3314627, UI: 88047824
#63 Nippon Shonika Gakkai Zasshi 1971 Jan 1;75(1):30-8
[Article in Japanese]
PMID: 5102132, UI: 71133621
#64 University Medical Magazine (Edited under the auspices of the Alumni and Faculty of the University of Pennsylvania) 1888; 1:140-150
PMID: ?, UI: ?
#65 Am. J. Med. Sci 1892;104:521-535
PMID: ?, UI: ?
#66 Am. J. Hum. Genet. 1963;15:184-190
PMID: ?, UI: ?
#67 J Am Med Assn. 1938; 110:1261-1264
PMID: ?, UI: ?
That's all, so far. These articles are in the order in which I found them. Some of the problems with this disease is the articles are sprinkled through a variety of journals, and a significant number are not in English. Hope these have been helpful -- Don.
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