Abstract: Objective To study the clinical characteristics of patients with Madelung syndrome （MS） in China. Methods We searched China National Knowledge Internet（CNKI）database （1994-2013）,Wanfang database （2000-2013） and VIP Citation database （2002-2013） for articles about MS; Finally,61 articles with 282 cases of MS were included in this study;SPSS17.0 and Excel software were used to analyze the retrieved data. Results In all 282 cases,there were 264 male （93.62%） and 18 female （6.38%） patients,and the male to female ratio was 14.6:1;Among these patients,62 cases from 41 articles had complete case history and clinical data （60 male and 2 female） and the age of patients ranged from 34 to 79 year-old with a average age of （50.04±8.15） year old;In this 62 cases,the course of disease lasted for 3 months and 20 years and the average disease course was （5.62±4.02） years;Forty-one cases （66.13%） had chronic alcoholism; Eighteen cases showed the symptoms of compression of the upper mediastinum,including oppression of the neck, dyspnea,snoring or sleep apnea syndrome;Symmetry or neck-rounded ring-shaped lumps were found in the parotid area,cervical region,and back at physical examination;Fifty-eight （out of 62） cases underwent surgical excision （include plastic surgery）. Conclusion MS is a kind of concealed and slowly progressing benign tumor,mostly affecting middle-aged men with long-term heavy alcohol intake.

Key words: Madelung syndrome, Multiple symmetric lipomatosis, Alcoholic liver disease, Lipometabolism