Lipomatosis in a Developing Communitys

Abstract

A Birmingham (UK) group postulated that a histopathology data pool opens the gate to epidemiologic analysis. Such a pool came into existence among an Ethnic Group called the Ibos or Igbos in South-eastern Nigeria. Personal analysis of it from the 1970s to 2000 yielded 22 examples. Among them, one case was familial. Most occurred in males, the M/F ratio being 19/3. None was detected outside the skin. Most cases were diagnosed at the Cosmopolitan Enugu (12 cases), while the next ranking town was Afikpo (4 cases), this being a missionary outpost in the hinterlands. Concerning age, most males were in the 21-40 age groups, whereas the females were in the 41-61 older age bracket. Hardly any was painful. With 4 cases submitted by a specialist in Dermatology, most were sent by other single practitioners.