A xanthoma (Greek Xanthos, yellow) is a benign cutaneous nodular or flat, external or subcutaneous, yellow, yellowish or orange-yellow, formed by a dermal infiltrate of cells loaded with fats (cholesterol, etc..) . These are masses of tissue (supportive tissue) and histiocytes (type of white blood relatives of macrophages, and having the ability to digest foreign particles). Xanthomas often measure only a few millimeters to a centimeter or more times (on the buttocks, elbows, knees ...). Exceptionally they are as thick growths of a centimeter longer see.
They are caused by a lipid abnormality, genetic or secondary, secondary to dyslipidemia or hypercholesterolemia severe that the doctor will look.
Depending on the clinical appearance of xanthomas and location, it is possible to direct the research of diseases associated or causal
Toxiderma