Abstract
A previously healthy 58-year-old man experienced difficulty with swallowing during meals to the point where he became unable to eat, and therefore presented himself to our hospital. Endoscopy revealed a yellowish, submucosal, tumor-like mass, measuring approximately 3 cm in length, in the left hypopharyngeal pyriform sinus. Because the mass showed a homogeneous, high signal intensity on both T1- and T2-weighted magnetic resonance images, a lipoma was highly suspected. In cooperation with the Department of Otorhinolaryngology, an endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) was performed under general anesthesia after visualizing the larynx with a curved laryngoscope. The lesion measured 35 × 32 × 27 mm and the pathological diagnosis was a lipoma. The postoperative course was favorable, and his swallowing difficulty disappeared. Although pharyngeal lipomas are rare, it should be noted that these lesions could be encountered during endoscopy and that ESD is useful for their treatment.
