Skin bumps signaled severely high triglycerides and uncontrolled diabetes

Small, yellowish-red bumps on the skin can be more than a cosmetic problem. A case report describes a 30-year-old man with poorly controlled type 2 diabetes and heavy recent alcohol use who developed eruptive xanthoma, a skin eruption linked to extremely high triglycerides. His fasting glucose was 28.00 mmol/L, HbA1c was 13.9%, and triglycerides were 77.10 mmol/L. Biopsy confirmed lipid-laden foam cells and cholesterol clefts.

Doctors treated the underlying metabolic disorder with intravenous insulin, lipid-lowering drugs, prophylactic heparin, and a strict low-fat diet, then transitioned to oral diabetes medicines. The skin lesions began to clear within 3 weeks and were nearly gone by 3 months. Triglycerides fell to 2.40 mmol/L and HbA1c to 7.1%.

The case shows why eruptive xanthoma should prompt urgent checks of glucose and lipid levels. Treating the metabolic problem can resolve the rash and may help prevent acute pancreatitis and cardiovascular disease. The report is a single case, so it describes one patient’s course rather than proving cause and effect.

The work titled “Eruptive Xanthoma: A Case of Extreme Hypertriglyceridemia” was published on Skin (published on September 21, 2026).