Osteolipoma Presenting as a Submandibular Mass: A Rare Presentation

Abstract

Osteolipomas are rare tumors, particularly in the head and neck region, in contrast to lipomas which are the most common benign neoplasms in this location. Osseous changes are benign and mainly occur in longstanding lipomas. Despite its rarity, this neoplasm has a characteristic histopathologic appearance with lamellar bony spicules within the mature adipose tissue. Of the 19 cases previously reported in the oropharyngeal area, only two were located in the submandibular region. We report the third case of submandibular osteolipoma, presenting as an asymptomatic mass in a middle-aged man. Our review of head and neck osteolipomas would be of particular interest to pathologists and head and neck surgeons, in order to avoid inappropriate treatment of an otherwise benign lesion.

Osteolipoma: a painless mandibular mass

“…Osteolipoma is a rare benign tumor in the oral, facial, and neck regions. Eight cases of mandibular osteolipoma have been reported to date (Table 1) [5,7,[9][10][11][12][13][14]. We are reporting the first case in the submental region.…”

“…This lesion was described in many anatomic sites, including the scapula, vertebral spine, neck, skull, suprasellar region, tuber cinereum, oral cavity, and pharyngeal region [2,4,[6][7][8]. Only eight cases of this rare type of lipoma were reported in the mandibular buccal vestibule/alveolar mucosa (Table 1) [5,7,[9][10][11][12][13][14]. In this study, we report a very rare condition: a patient with osteolipoma situated in the mandibular region.…”

“…However, there are different types of lipomatous tumors that contain other predominant mesenchymal elements such as blood vessels (angiolipoma), spindle cells (spindle cell lipoma), fibrous connective tissue (fibrolipoma), muscle (leiomyolipoma), salivary gland (sialolipoma), myxoid (myxolipoma), and cartilaginous/osseous (chondro/osteolipoma) tissues [2,3]. Osteolipoma is a rare histopathologic variant of lipoma accounting for less than 1% of all lipomatous cases [4,5]. This lesion was described in many anatomic sites, including the scapula, vertebral spine, neck, skull, suprasellar region, tuber cinereum, oral cavity, and pharyngeal region [2,4,[6][7][8].…”

Osteolipoma of floor of the mouth

“…As per a recent literature review by Saghafi et al ,3 only eight cases of osteolipoma arising in the oral cavity and two pharyngeal cases having some oral manifestations were shown. For lucidity, we performed an English literature search, which revealed a total of 12 cases of osteolipoma only occurring/presenting in the oral cavity since the first case report by Godby et al in 1961 4 6. The details of those cases are presented in table 1 6 13…”

“…For lucidity, we performed an English literature search, which revealed a total of 12 cases of osteolipoma only occurring/presenting in the oral cavity since the first case report by Godby et al in 1961 4 6. The details of those cases are presented in table 1 6 13…”