Abstract
A 38-year-old female patient was referred to our department on March, 31, 1983 because of hemispherical swelling of the right masseter region at contraction. On the clinical examination, it was found that this swelling appeared immediately following the contraction of masseter and disappeared soon after the masseter was relaxed. In addition it was gradually reduced within 4-5 seconds when the contraction of masseter was continued. This hemispherical swelling was elastically soft of 2.5×2.5 cm size without spontaneous pain or tenderness. No pulsation or fluctuation was felt on the swelling, and no bruits were heard. Skin surface had normal color. The intraoral examination revealed no abnormal findings. 2-3 cc of dark red blood was aspirated by puncture, producing a temporal disappearance of swelling. The external carotid arteriogram showed a pooling of contrast medium in the rami masseterica of A. traversa faciei.
Clinical diagnosis: Erectile hemangioma on the masseter region. On April 19 1983, the tumor was surgically removed by extraoral approach under general anesthesia. No complication appeared after operation, the except for mild, trasient palsy of the facial nerve on the affected side. As of 8 months after operation, the patient is favorably progressing with no complications or signs of swelling at contraction of the masseter.
Histopathological diagnosis: Cavernous hemangioma
