Table 1 Rare adipose disorders and their clinical features

Dercum's disease (DD) [9]

Type I

Type II

Type III

Adiposis dolorosa

Morbus Dercums

Type I: Juxta-articular

Type II: Diffuse, associated with obesity

Type III: Discrete, fatty lumps

Painful subcutaneous adipose tissue in all types

Male-female ratio 1:5-30

Fatigue, myalgias, shortness of breath [10]

Autosomal dominant transmission has been reported [11]

Familial multiple lipomatosis (FML)

None

Discrete, lipomas +/- encapsulation; arm, thighs, abdomen, lower back, flanks [12, 13]

Non-painful.

Male-female ratio 1:1

If lipomatosis becomes painful, is considered DD Type III [11, 14, 15].

Autosomal dominant transmission; recessive inheritance has been reported.

Multiple symmetric lipomatosis (MSL)

Lanois-Bensaude's syndrome

Benign symmetric lipomatosis

Madelung's disease

Diffusely in men on neck and back, upper arms in women; supraclavicular, on abdomen, and lower back in both men and women [16]

Non-painful.

Male-female ratio 15:1-30:1

Polyneuropathy [17]

Mitochondrial mutations found in some [18]

Risk factors: corticosteroids and alcohol abuse.