Fibrolipomatous hamartoma of sural nerve: a new site of an unusual lesion

ABSTRACT

Neural fibrolipomatous hamartoma is a rare benign tumour commonly involving the median nerve. Other less frequently involved nerves include the ulnar, radial, brachial plexus, superficial peroneal nerve, inferior calcaneal nerve and median plantar nerve. Involvement of sural nerve has not been reported in the available literature so far. A three-year-old female child presented with a painless swelling over the posterolateral aspect of left leg with no associated motor or sensory deficits. Radiological investigations revealed a fat density lesion with interspersed neural element in the subcutaneous plane of the left leg. Histopathological examination of the excised specimen showed features of a fibrolipomatous hamartoma of the nerve. This report describes the occurrence of fibrolipomatous hamartoma in the sural nerve for the first time in the literature. This rare tumour should be considered in the differential diagnosis of such lesions.