Idiopathic localized involutional lipoatrophy: A retrospective study of 12 cases

Abstract

Background: Idiopathic localized involutional lipoatrophy (ILIL) is focal loss of subcutaneous tissue without any clinical or histopathological inflammation with spontaneous regression. Objective: To retrospectively study clinical features and evolution of lesions in patients diagnosed with idiopathic localized lipoatrophy presenting to the department of dermatology of two district hospitals of Himachal Pradesh. Materials and Methods: A retrospective study of clinical patterns and evolution of ILIL was done in patients presenting with this condition in two district hospitals in the past 4 years (October 2013–September 2017). All clinically suspected and histopathologically confirmed cases of idiopathic localized lipoatrophy were included in the study. All cases with history of antecedent injections, vaccination, or medications before the development of lesion and inflammatory lipoatrophy on histopathology were excluded. Results: We found a total of 12 patients with ILIL. About 66% were children (8/12), 3 (25%) young females, and 1 (8%) young adult male. The most common site involved was buttock in 9 (75%) cases followed by a single case each (8%) with lesion on arm, face, and lower back. Two children and one adult were having bilateral involvement (25%), whereas the remaining had unilateral lesions. Lipoatrophy in 8 (66%) patients decreased spontaneously (with placebo) within 4–12 weeks duration whereas 4 required treatment. None required surgical or cosmetic interventions. Limitations: Small sample size and nonavailability of immunohistochemistry reports in all patients. Conclusion: ILIL is a rare form of lipoatrophy with specific loss of adipose tissue without any inflammatory changes. We concluded that ILIL is an underreported entity, probably due to its spontaneous resolution.

Keywords

• Idiopathic
• involutional
• lipoatrophy