Foam cells

What it means

The presence of foam cells, a type of macrophage that localizes to fatty deposits on blood vessel walls, where they ingest low-density lipoproteins and become laden with lipids, giving them a foamy appearance.

Foam cells may contain polymorphic cytoplasmic inclusions consisting of lamellar osmiophilic membranes on electron microscopy.

Rare diseases that can present with this4

The range is how often this sign appears among people diagnosed with each disease — it is not a probability of having any of them. Many of these signs also occur in common, non-rare conditions. A sign on this page is a conversation to have with a clinician, not a conclusion.

Part of the broader category

Also called: Foamy histiocytes · Foamy macrophages · Lipid-laden histiocytes · Presence of foam cells