Ramasamy Periyapatti Palanisamy1, Swarnalakshimi Selvaraj2, Syed Iqbal Sikkanthar3, Madhavan Ramamoorthy4, Pradeepa Durai Swamy5
BACKGROUND
Obesity is a major concern in our era. Obese individuals have numerous physiological changes which predispose them to many dermatological conditions. This study was done to find the common dermatoses associated in adults with a BMI of > 30 kg/m2 who presented to the Skin Outpatient Department of Coimbatore Medical College Hospital.
OBJECTIVES
To study the prevalence of various dermatological manifestations of obesity, age, sex distribution, morphology of individual lesions associated with obesity and their association with BMI and lipid profile.
METHODOLOGY
This is a descriptive study conducted from August 2014 to July 2015. Hundred patients with age > 12 yrs. and BMI > 30 kg/m2 were selected and included in the study. Diabetes was ruled out and lipid profile was carried out for all patients. Other necessary investigations like biopsy, KOH mount and immunofluorescence were done for relevant cases.
RESULTS
There were 100 patients with 169 dermatoses seen in the study. Male female ratio was 1.5: 1. Most cases belonged to the age group of 31-40. Nearly 76% all cases were in grade 1 obesity according to their BMI levels. Only 3 cases were seen in grade 3 obesity. Lipid profile alterations were seen in 29% of all cases. Skin tag was the most common dermatosis seen in the study followed by acanthosis nigricans, plantar hyperkeratosis and striae.
CONCLUSION
Severity of obesity also determines the nature of lesions occurring in the patients. Early identification of these conditions can be useful in preventing the deleterious effects of obesity on the body. Treatment of lipid profile abnormalities in addition to weight reduction can decrease the occurrence of these dermatoses.
