INFILTRATING LIPOMA OF THE NECK: A CASE REPORT

ABSTRACT

Lipomas make up 4~5% of all benign tumors in the body and are most often located on shoulders and backs. Neck lipomas are often developed in the subcutaneous tissues of the posterior neck. Most lipomas have slow growth rate and the recurrence is very rare after surgical excision because of well-defined border. But lipoma originated from muscles(intramuscular and intermuscular lipoma), so called infiltrating lipoma, has ill-defined border and little or no evidence of encapsulation. Histologically the feature of infiltrating lipoma is distinctive. There is a consistent infiltration with dissociation of the surrounding muscle fibers. The overall recurrence rate is less than 5%, but rises to 62.5% when deep infiltrating lipomas are considered separately. Thus infiltrating lipoma is best excised with a margin of normal muscle to avoid recurrence. Its location in the head and neck is uncommon. 18 cases of infiltrating lipoma in the head and neck has been reported to date. Here we report a case of infiltrating lipoma that arises in the head and neck muscle with a review of the literature on the subject.