[Xanthelasma palpebrarum and dyslipoproteinaemia: two retrospective studies (author's transl)]

In a retrospective study about 600 hyperlipoproteinaemic patients (390 men and 210 women, mean age 47), xanthelasma palpebrarum was infrequent (25 cases or 4.16 p. 100), since it was only at the third rank of chronic extra-vascular lipid deposits after arcus corneus and tendineous xanthomas. It was twice as frequent in men (5.12 p. 100) as in women (2.38 p. 100) and of regularly increasing occurrence until the sixth decade. Among the atherosclerotic risk factors, only obesity was significantly associated. The existence of atherosclerotic diseases was observed more frequently in patients with xanthelasma palpebrarum (40 p. 100) than in total hyperlipoproteinaemic population (28 p. 100). In a second retrospective study concerning 29 patients (15 men and 14 women, mean age 50), selected from the only presence of one or several xanthelasma palpebrarum, a lipoproteinaemic abnormality was observed in 27 cases (93 p. 100): 23 patients (71 p. 100) were hyperlipoproteinaemic (type IIa, IIb or IV) and in 4 out of 6 normolipidemic patients we observed an abnormal lipoprotein cholesterol distribution (LDL + VLDL cholesterol increase and HDL cholesterol decrease). In this group, we observed in nine patients (31 p. 100) unknown atherosclerotic diseases and tendineous xanthomas in other nine patients (31 p. 100).