Well-circumscribed type of intramuscular lipoma in the chest wall

Abstract

A tumor shadow was identified in the chest X-ray of a 40-year-old Korean man and he was referred to our hospital. The computed tomographic (CT) scan of his chest showed a 3-cm rounded pleural-based mass lesion with calcification, which was growing into the intercostal muscles. Thoracoscopic surgery was performed to resect the tumor. From the histological findings, the tumor was diagnosed as an intramuscular lipoma. The patient displayed no evidence of recurrence for more than 18 months. As well-circumscribed type of intramuscular lipoma is a rare tumor, we report this case with a literature review in this paper.

Intramuscular Lipoma within a Free Myocutaneous Flap: Systematic Review and Management

“…20 Though the frequency of lipoma outnumbers liposarcoma in a ratio of 100:1, tissue should be sent to surgical pathology to rule out malignancy. 1,21 This is particularly important for the diagnosis of well-differentiated liposarcomas, which can be macroscopically indistinguishable from lipomas and comprise 40 to 45% of all liposarcomas. 12,20 Histologically, lipomas appear as mature univacuolated adipocytes of uniform size without evidence of mitotic activity, hyperchromasia, pleomorphism, multinucleation, or lipoblasts.…”

Anatomical Distribution of Intramuscular Lipomas

“…The chest wall [44,45] and the intercostal muscles [46] may also be involved. It may appear as a breast mass involving the pectoralis major [47][48][49] and may also involve the heart; involvement of the left ventricular myocardium, extending to the epicardial space; has also been reported [50].…”

“…Local recurrence may be evident if the surgical margin is not clear. They can occur in almost any anatomical site [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15].Intramuscular lipomas of the head may involve the tongue, which is one of the most commonly involved sites [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24] The chest wall [44,45] and the intercostal muscles [46] may also be involved. It may appear as a breast mass involving the pectoralis major [47][48][49] and may also involve the heart; involvement of the left ventricular myocardium, extending to the epicardial space; has also been reported [50].…”

A rare case of chest wall lipoma growing into the pleural cavity: a case report

“…Typical deep-seated lipomas are relatively rare and are located in the subfascial tissue (deep lipomas) or on bone surfaces (parosteal lipomas). In the thoracic area, several cases of lipomas in unusual locations such as intracardiac lipomas [1], pleural lipomas [2][3][4], and intramuscular lipomas [5,6] have been reported. We herein report an extremely rare case of a chest wall lipoma penetrating the pleural cavity.…”