Infections preceding the development of Dercum disease

Abstract

Dercum Disease (DD) is a rare inflammatory disease of painful subcutaneous fat masses with known alterations in lymphatic vessels. DD masses vary from pearl to walnut -size or larger and occur anywhere in body fat. Signs and symptoms of DD are similar to fibromyalgia. While the etiology of DD is unknown, metabolic, autoimmune, or autosomal genetic transmission has been proposed. This series presents 7 cases where DD followed an infection either histoplasmosis, coccidioidomycosis or Lyme disease. Known changes in fat by infectious agents are reviewed. Early diagnosis and treatment of infections may prevent further damage to fat. (c) 2019 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).