Panniculitis is a disorder in which the
fat becomes
inflamed and forms
nodules. It is an extremely
rare disease, and it takes on a variety of forms, including:
Lobular Panniculitis: Involves
subcutaneous fat (the layer of fat just beneath the skin).
Tender,
red lesions appear in the skin. The number of lesions varies greatly. As the
disease progresses, the lesions become less tender and less hard. The lesions heal over a period of weeks, leaving a
scar which can be described as a
dent in the skin. A variant is
liquefying panniculitis, in which the lesions leak a yellowish oily
fluid, and the cells in the lesions die. There is no specific
treatment.
Systemic Nodular Panniculitis, also known as
Weber-Christian Disease: Involves
cutaneous fat and the layer of fat surrounding the
internal organs.
Symptoms include the following: a general feeling of
discomfort, internal
pain,
fatigue, weight loss, enlargement of the
liver, intestinal
perforation, swelling in various internal organs, excessive
discharge of fat in the
feces, increased white
blood cell count, and
vomiting. There is no specific treatment.
Poststeriod Lobular Panniculitis: Occurs most often in
children who receive large doses of
steroids over a long period of time, and quit taking them suddenly. Lesions may occur in the internal organs.
Physical Lobular Panniculitis: This type of panniculitis is caused by physical
trauma, cold
injury,
obese breasts (in women over 50), or injection of
silicone into the
penis or
breasts.
There are many more types and causes of panniculitis. The
method of
diagnosis usually involves a
biopsy.