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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Avicenna J Med 2018; 8(02): 55-57
DOI: 10.4103/ajm.AJM_81_17
CASE REPORT

Submandibular lipoblastoma: Case report of a rare tumor in childhood

Olfa El Amine
Department of Pathology, Salah Azaiez Institute, Tunis 1006, Tunisia
,
Meyssa Belghith
Department of Pathology, Salah Azaiez Institute, Tunis 1006, Tunisia
,
Hasna Salhi
Department of Surgical Oncology, Salah Azaiez Institute, Tunis 1006, Tunisia
,
Aida Goucha
Department of Pathology, Salah Azaiez Institute, Tunis 1006, Tunisia
,
Amor Gamoudi
Department of Pathology, Salah Azaiez Institute, Tunis 1006, Tunisia
› Author Affiliations Financial support and sponsorship Nil.
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Abstract

Lipoblastoma is a rare, benign tumor usually occurring in childhood. It is essentially localized in the extremities and trunk, with few cases reported in the neck. We report the case of a 2-year-old girl with a rapidly enlarging, painless neck mass. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed a 3-cm mass in the right submandibular region. Review of literature, diagnostic methods, and genetics of lipomatous tumors are discussed. Complete surgical excision via a lateral cervical approach demonstrated a white soft tissue with an adherent ganglion. Histology and immunohistochemistry confirmed the diagnosis of lipoblastoma. Cervical lipoblastoma is rare, and typically asymptomatic, rarely causing nerve compression or airway obstruction. MRI can help identifying the lipomatous nature of the mass, but the findings can be inconsistent due to variable maturity of fat cells and the mesenchymal content of the tumor. Diagnosis is always based on pathological examination. Further chromosomal analysis is useful in differentiating lipoblastoma from liposarcoma. Complete surgical excision is the recommended treatment.

Keywords

Benign tumor - head and neck - immunohistochemestry - lipoblastoma - liposarcoma


Publication History

Article published online:
12 August 2021

© 2018. Syrian American Medical Society. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial-License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

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