Ultrasound assisted liposuction for the palliative treatment of Madelung'sdisease: A case report

Benign Symmetric Lipomatosis (Madelung's disease) is a rare disease, charac terized by massive fatty deposits in the neck, the shoulders, and the upper extremities. The deformity is: associated with chronic alcohol use, malign ant tumors of the upper airways, neuropathy, diabetes mellitus, hyperlipide mia, and other metabolic disorders. Although the deformity is prone to recu rrence, surgical removal via lipectomy or liposuction provides the only way of palliation. This paper describes the treatment of a 51-year-old man with a history of a lcoholism and liver cirrhosis. lie reported masses in his cervical and faci al regions that had gradually enlarged over a period of 6 years. He also de veloped respiratory symptoms due to the fatty compression of his upper airw ays. Our experience with ultrasound-assisted liposuction for the palliative treatment of this disease is reported.