Abstract
Objective: We sought to determine whether the presence of cervical or axillary skin tags was associated with an adverse cardiovascular risk profile in Irish adults with severe obesity. Results: We conducted a cross-sectional study of patients attending our regional bariatric centre. Of 167 patients, 100 (31% male, 37% with type 2 diabetes, 36% on lipid lowering therapy, 41% on antihypertensive therapy) agreed to participate. 85 patients had cervical or axillary tags while 15 had none. Those with any skin tags had higher systolic blood pressure (138.0±16.0 versus 125.1±8.3 mmHg, p=0.003) and higher glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) (46.5±13.2 versus 36.8±3.5 mmol/mol, p=0.017). 94.6% of patients with diabetes, compared to 79.4% of those without diabetes had skin tags (p=0.039). 45.8% of patients with skin tags compared to 13.3% with no tags were on antihypertensive therapy (p=0.018). Skin tags were not associated with any differences in lipid profiles. In Irish adults with severe obesity, skin tags are associated with higher systolic blood pressure and HbA1c and a higher prevalence of diabetes and hypertension, consistent with increased vascular risk, though differences in lipid profiles were not found.