Eruptive xanthoma in the setting of hypertriglyceridemia and pancreatitis

Background

Undifferentiated dermatologic complaints are often encountered in the emergency department. While a patient's exposures, risk factors, and comorbidities may help guide emergency department evaluation, the accurate diagnosis of dermatologic findings is critical to allowing rapid identification and treatment of disease.

Case

In this vignette we discuss a case of eruptive xanthoma in a 33-year-old male with diabetic ketoacidosis and pancreatitis.

Discussion

Dermatologic complaints pose a unique challenge to the emergency physician. Many dermatologic findings are benign; however, some may represent underlying serious disease even in young, otherwise healthy appearing patients. Eruptive xanthomas are cutaneous lesions often indicating severe hypertriglyceridemia and uncontrolled diabetes. Likely presentations and risk factors for eruptive xanthomas will be discussed as well as ED evaluation and management.