Update lipoedema 2014: Cologne lipoedema study

Abstract

In many respects, lipoedema of the arms and legs is still an un-researched disease within the lymphatic spectrum. In terms of clinical aspects, symmetrical fat distribution in the arms and legs and pathognomonic tenderness are frequently evident in female family members. However, 75 years after the first descriptions by Allen and Hines, we still lack pathological evidence that goes beyond the theses of Marsch and Brauer. Neither do we know anything about the hormonal influence on hyperplastic fatty tissue nor the causes of obviously increased lymph formation in the fatty tissue of the lipohyperplasia dolorosa. We know more about the effects of complex decongestive therapies, which have been used since the 1960s. Since 1997, the clinical picture can be cured surgically. The success rate with long-term observation (15 years) is 97%.