An observational study in Lipedema, sponsored by Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Completed at 1 site in United States. Open to female participants aged 18 Years to 80 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-06-02.
Sponsored by Vanderbilt University Medical Center · Observational
Lipedema is a disease marked by subcutaneous adipose tissue accumulation in the lower extremities of females that is accompanied by somatic pain and edema. Importantly, lipedema is commonly misdiagnosed as obesity, although it's estimated to affect a high 11% of women. Clinical diagnosis of lipedema requires specialized training not widely available at most major medical centers, and there remains a substantial need for objective tools to distinguish lipedema from obesity. There is a critical need to define specific molecular markers of disease in circulation or at the tissue-level. The purpose of this study is to create, manage, and characterize an innovative lipedema biorepository. The goal of the biorepository will be to better understand disease mechanisms of lipedema and to define specific molecular markers of disease in circulation or at the tissue-level. The long-term purpose of our studies are to help with prevention and early management of lipedema.
85 studies on the registry are indexed under Lipedema; 32 are open to participants now.
This study's enrollment of 60 is below the median of 90 across 42 observational studies indexed under Lipedema.
Browse Lipedema studies →Vanderbilt University Medical Center is the lead sponsor of 833 studies on the registry; 155 are open to participants now.
Of its 125 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 92 (74%) have results posted.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Participants with or without lipedema
Inclusion Criteria:
Exclusion Criteria: Volunteers in the lipedema or control group will be excluded with the following:
Also excluded are subjects incapable of giving informed written consent:
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Cancer that has spread from where it began to other parts of the body. “Metastatic” cancer is cancer that has spread this way.
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Metastases
Cancer that has spread from where it began to other parts of the body. “Metastatic” cancer is cancer that has spread this way.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Informed consent
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Participants with lipedema
Participants without lipedema
We will measure plasma concentrations of CD8A.
Time frame: 1 day
We will measure plasma concentrations of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein.
Time frame: 1 day
We will measure the 6-minute walk test.
Time frame: 1 day
We will measure the four-meter gait speed test.
Time frame: 1 day
We will measure the hand grip strength test.
Time frame: 1 day
Plan to share: Undecided
No publications or documents are linked to this record.
Ran from Feb 2024 to primary completion in Jan 2026, 22 months.
How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.
This study is completed, as verified in May 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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