A case of diaphragmatic lipoma resected laparoscopically

Abstract

A 43-year-old female was found to have an abnormal shadow on chest X-ray. The chest X-ray showed a shadow protruding upward in a tent-like shape from the right diaphragm ; on abdominal CT and MRI, a tumor was observed between the right diaphragm and the liver surface—fat was present in the tumor. The primary tumor site was thought to be either the diaphragm or the liver, and to be mainly composed of fat. Since the tumor was found to enlarge over two years, and malignancy could not be ruled out, the tumor was resected laparoscopically. Based on the perioperative findings and the histopathological findings of the resected specimen, the tumor was diagnosed as a lipoma originating in the diaphragm. Diaphragmatic lipoma is extremely rare, and only 12 such cases, including the present case, have been reported in Japan. We herein report the findings of this case and review the relevant literature.