Serum lipid profile and clinical characteristics of patients with xanthelasma palpebrarum

BACKGROUND: Although many factors are involved in the etiology of xanthelasma palpebrum, lipid disorder is strongly associated with its induction. Xanthelasma palpebrum, the most common type of xanthoma, usually presents in middle-aged females and results in aesthetic problems. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate thelipid profile and important clinical aspects of xanthelasma palpebrum patients. METHODS: In this descriptive study, we enrolled 42xanthelasma palpebrumpatients, and 42 cases of non-inflammatory skin disorders as thecontrol group, matched for age and gender.The clinical characteristics of the patients and fasting serum lipid profile were recorded for both groups. The data obtained were analyzed using SPSS-16. RESULTS: Xanthelasma palpebrum was found more commonly in middle-aged females with disease onset of less than 1 year, and without significant familial history of xanthoma. Furthermore,xanthelasma lesionswere most often seen in the upper lid with mild extension and was rarely associated with systemic disease. There was no statistically significant difference between two groups regarding hypertriglyceridemia (p= 0.231) and hypercholesterolemia (p= 0.302). The mean serum levels of cholesterol (221.51±60.4 mg/dl), triglyceride (185.98±71.1 mg/dl) and VLDL (37.7±17.6 mg/dl) were significantly higher and themedian HDL (36.2 (31, 41) mg/dl) level was lower in thepatient group. CONCLUSION: In our study, hypercholesterolemia and hypertriglyceridemia did not reveal a significant difference between thepatient and control groups; however, mean serum values for cholesterol, triglyceride, VLDL and HDL showed a significant difference between the two groups. Therefore, in addition to lipid abnormality, other factors could be involved in the pathogenesis of xanthelasma palpebrum.