PROGRESSIVE lipodystrophy is characterized by a gradual loss of subcutaneous fat, involving usually the head, neck, shoulder girdle and upper extremities without a concomitant loss of fat deposits from other regions of the body. It occurs oftener in girls and classically has its onset between the ages of 6 and 12 years. The dystrophy progresses slowly over a number of years until nothing remains of the original fat deposits in the affected areas.
Other types of this disease, however, have been described, such as involvement of the lower extremities alone (Bigler1) or of all four extremities (Patton2). Progressive lipodystrophy of the face alone was reported by Guralnick and Green,3 while Karger4 described a case of "mirror image" lipodystrophy, with complete loss of cubcutaneous fat over the entire body except the face. Its occurrence in women of older age groups, especially at or soon after the menopause,