A clinical evaluation of lipoma, lipomatosis and liposarcoma in the head and neck region

Abstract

Fifteen cases of head and neck tumors derived from adipose tissue in our department from 1982 to 1993 were reviewed and analyzed clinically. They included ten males and 5 females. Pathologically, they were classified into 4 types as follows: lipoma (10 cases), lipomatosis (3 cases), lipofibroma (1 case) and liposarcoma (1 case). In the lipoma cases, 2 cases were under 3cm in diameter, while 7 cases were from 3 to 10cm and 1 case was over 10cm. The preoperative diagnosis for lipoma can be made by a CT scan. Lipoma is characterized by a low-dense and homogeneous region. The histological appearance of lipomatosis differed from that of lipoma although both CT scan examinations showed similar findings. All benign tumors were surgically extirpated, while the case of liposarcoma was treated by a combination of operation, radio and chemotherapy.