Rare diseases · Sign or symptom

Lipoatrophy

Loss of fat tissue in localized area

HP:0100578

What it means

Localized loss of fat tissue.

This may occur as a result of subcutanous injections of insulin in the treatment of diabetes, from the use of human growth hormone or from subcutanous injections of Copaxone used for the treatment of multiple sclerosis. In the latter case, an injection may produce a small dent at the injection site. Lipoatrophy is also an adverse drug reaction that is associated with some antiretroviral drugs.

Rare diseases that can present with this34

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: Atrophy of fat · Loss of fat tissue in localised area

Lipoatrophy

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This page uses the Human Phenotype Ontology (2026-06-23) — Human Phenotype Ontology Consortium, hpo.jax.org. Disease associations from Orphanet (INSERM), CC BY 4.0. Content is educational and is not medical advice.