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

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 June 2007

O. G. B. Nwaorgu ,
E. E. U. Akang ,
B. M. Ahmad ,
F. N. Nwachokor  and
A. N. Olu-Eddo
O. G. B. Nwaorgu*
Affiliation:
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University College Hospital, P.M.B. 5116, Ibadan, Nigeria.
E. E. U. Akang
Affiliation:
Department of Pathology, University College Hospital, P.M.B. 5116, Ibadan, Nigeria.
B. M. Ahmad
Affiliation:
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University College Hospital, P.M.B. 5116, Ibadan, Nigeria.
F. N. Nwachokor
Affiliation:
Department of Pathology, University College Hospital, P.M.B. 5116, Ibadan, Nigeria.
A. N. Olu-Eddo
Affiliation:
Department of Pathology, University College Hospital, P.M.B. 5116, Ibadan, Nigeria.
*
Address for correspondence: Dr O. G. B. Nwaorgu, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University College Hospital, P.M.B. 5116, Ibadan, Nigeria. Fax: (022) 413545.
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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.

Keywords

LipomaPharynx
Type
Clinical Records
Information
The Journal of Laryngology & Otology , Volume 111 , Issue 7 , July 1997 , pp. 656 - 658
Copyright
Copyright © JLO (1984) Limited 1997

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