Oral lipoma extending superiorly from mandibular gingivobuccal fold to gingiva: a case report and analysis of 207 patients with oral lipoma in Japan

Abstract

Lipoma is relatively uncommon in the oral cavity. Among the intraoral regions, lipoma involving the gingiva or gingivobuccal fold is relatively infrequent. We report the case of a patient with lipoma extending superiorly from the mandibular gingivobuccal fold to the gingiva. In addition to the case report, we retrospectively reviewed 207 patients with intraoral lipoma reported in Japan from 1987 to 2004. The most frequent site of development was the buccal mucosa (40.6%), followed by the tongue (17.9%), lip (12.6%), gingiva (8.7%), oral floor (6.8%), gingivobuccal fold and palate (4.8%), and others (3.9%). Occurrence tended to be more frequent in males (57.5%) than in females (42.5%). Relative to age, frequency peaked among patients in the 7th (27.3%) and 6th decades (25.1%), respectively, followed in descending order by the 5th (14.8%) and 8th decades (13.1%). The majority of patients (86.3%) were at least 40 years. The most frequent size was 10-19 mm (37.5%), followed by 0-9 mm (27.8%) and 20-29 mm (14.6%), and tumors 30 mm or larger were relatively infrequent. Histopathological types in order of descending frequency were lipomas (69.0%), fibrolipomas (27.4%), and others (3.5%). The male:female ratio was 1.7:1 for lipoma and 1:1.6 for fibrolipoma.

Intraoral lipomas: Review of literature and report of two clinical cases

“…Studart-Soares et al (5), revised 450 intraoral lipomas between 1966 and 2009, and the most common site was found to be buccal mucosa (n=174; 38.7%), followed by vestibule (n=35; 7.8%), retromolar area (n=21; 4.7%), and other sites (n=220; 48.8%). Taira et al (1), studied 207 cases published between 1987 and 2004, andalso found the buccal mucosa to be the most prominent site (n=84, 40.6%), followed by tongue (n=37, 17.9%), lip (n=26, 12.6%), and other areas (n=60, 28.9%). With respect to the histology, the sialolipoma variety is generally encountered in minor salivary glands (22-24).…”

“…While intraoral lipomas are relatively uncommon (1,4,7,8,15,16), their clinical diagnosis is easy due to their yellowish color, and their usual location superficially near the mucosa (1). The differential diagnosis includes fibroma, dermoid cyst, minor salivary gland tumors, mucocele, hemangioma, lymphangioma, rhabdomyoma or neuroma (4,17) ( Table 3).…”

“…Lipoma is a benign mesenchymal tumor composed of mature adipocytes (1,2). They are common in the head and neck region, but their appearance in the oral cavity is uncommon.…”

Tongue lipoma in an older male: A case report and literature review of patients with tongue lipoma reported in China

“…By contrast, Taira et al (24) reported that the female to male ratio was 1.0:1.7 in Japan, demonstrating a male predilection. Fregnani et al (25) did not observe a gender imbalance.…”

“…Tongue lipomas appear to occur more frequently in adults over the age of 30 years. Additionally, Juliasse et al (23) and Taira et al (24) reported that the peak incidence was between the sixth and seventh decade of life. Similar results were obtained in the present study.…”