Pharyngeal lipoma with cartilaginous metaplasia (chondrolipoma): a case report and literature review

Abstract

The relative rarity of pharyngeal lipomas and paucity of clinical manifestations in the early stages of tumour growth conspire to task the diagnostic acumen of the clinician. A high index of suspicion and meticulous examination are essential in order to arrive at the diagnosis, which may be achieved pre-operatively by computerized axial tomography, revealing a mass lesion with a characteristic low attenuation value. A case of pharyngeal chondrolipoma in a 25-year-old male is reported. It is suggested that this conceptually intriguing and rarely encountered lesion can be explained on the basis of neoplastic transformation of the second to fourth pharyngeal cleft mesenchymal rests displaying both adipose and cartilaginous differentiation. Alternatively, the cartilage could represent vestigial remnants of non-neoplastic pharyngeal cleft tissue entrapped within a primarily lipomatous neoplasm. Slow growth may occur over a period of several years, prior to overt clinical manifestation.

Ossifying chondrolipoma of the thigh

“…Histologically, these are metaplasias from lipoma and not neoplastic changes 1,2. According to previous case reports, chondrolipomas and osteolipomas arise mostly from the breast5,6 or from the oral, nasopharyngeal, or pharyngeal regions 7–10. The occurrence in extremities is extremely rare: only five case reports of chondrolipoma are available 3,11–14…”

Lipomas of Larynx: The Rare Entities

“…Next possible explanation could be focal cartilaginous metaplasia originating from pluripotent primitive mesenchymal rests. 4 Spindle cell lipomas contain collagen fibers and small, cylindrical spindled cells and mixed mature adipocytes within a matrix containing mucinous material. Spindle cell lipomas appear 60 times less frequently compared to the classical lipomas.…”

Extra‐abdominal Chondrolipoma in a Dog

“…Histologically, lipomas are composed of mature adipose tissue with no cell atypia, but are occasionally altered by variable amounts of other mescenchymal elements such as fibrolipoma (including fibrous connective tissue) and myxoid lipoma (including mucoid substances) 9 . Lipoma with cartilaginous metaplasia, which is called chondrolipoma, is rare even in humans 10–14 . In this paper, we describe a canine patient with this rare tumor.…”