Semicircular lipoatrophy--a pressure-induced lipoatrophy?

A case of semicircular lipoatrophy, a rare form of localized lipoatrophy, is described in a 33-year-old woman. No precipitating factors such as trauma could be elicited by questioning. However, the patient subsequently realized that she had unwittingly been subjected to repeated daily trauma as she pressed the affected thigh against the edge of the wash bowl while applying make-up. This case thus supports a possible mechanical basis for this rare entity, and demonstrates the importance of taking a careful history in the search for the possible occurrence of minor episodes of trauma in such cases.