Print Email Facebook Twitter Hereditary lymphedema of the leg – A Case Report Title Hereditary lymphedema of the leg – A Case Report Author Heinig, Birgit (Academic Teaching Hospital Dresden-Friedrichstadt) Lotti, T. (TU Delft BT/Environmental Biotechnology; Sapienza University of Rome) Tchernev, Georgi (Medical Institute of Ministry of Interior (MVR)) Wollina, Uwe (Academic Teaching Hospital Dresden-Friedrichstadt) Date 2017 Abstract Primary of hereditary lymphedema is a rare but progressive disease. It is yet not curable. We present a 48-year-old male patient with hereditary lymphedema of his left leg, that was realised by minor trauma (able twist) when he was seven years old. He had never been treated for lymphedema but experienced multiple erysipelas during his life. After diagnostic procedures to exclude other causes of leg swelling, the diagnosis of hereditary lymphedema of the leg, stage III was confirmed. We initialized complex decongestive therapy. During two weeks of intensive treatment, the circumference of the left leg could be reduced by 10 cm. This case illustrates the "natural course" hereditary lymphedema. But it raises the hope that even after decades of ignorance, the patients benefits from complex decongestive treatment. Therapeutic nihilism is unnecessary and poses lymphedema patients to risks of infection and secondary malignancies like Stewart-Trewes syndrome. Subject Complex decongestive therapyElephantiasis nostraErysipelasFibrosisImmunocompromised districtPrimary lymphedemaSecondary lymphedema To reference this document use: http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:b4e83364-88c1-4ed0-845d-847f4ceea127 DOI https://doi.org/10.3889/oamjms.2017.082 Source Open Access Macedonian Journal of Medical Sciences, 5 (4 Special Issue GlobalDermatology), 451-453 Part of collection Institutional Repository Document type journal article Rights © 2017 Birgit Heinig, T. Lotti, Georgi Tchernev, Uwe Wollina Files PDF 1186_3955_1_PB.pdf 416.54 KB Close viewer /islandora/object/uuid:b4e83364-88c1-4ed0-845d-847f4ceea127/datastream/OBJ/view