Download PDF
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · Indian J Radiol Imaging 2021; 31(03): 758-760
DOI: 10.1055/s-0041-1735922
Case Report

First Computed Tomography Evidence of Pulmonary Cavitated Lipoma: Diagnosis and Management

Tullio Valente
1   Section of General Radiology, Department of Diagnostic Imaging, Azienda dei Colli, Monaldi Hospital, Naples, Italy
,
Giorgio Bocchini
1   Section of General Radiology, Department of Diagnostic Imaging, Azienda dei Colli, Monaldi Hospital, Naples, Italy
,
Gaetano Rea
1   Section of General Radiology, Department of Diagnostic Imaging, Azienda dei Colli, Monaldi Hospital, Naples, Italy
,
Marianna Paccone
1   Section of General Radiology, Department of Diagnostic Imaging, Azienda dei Colli, Monaldi Hospital, Naples, Italy
,
Giuseppe Vitale
1   Section of General Radiology, Department of Diagnostic Imaging, Azienda dei Colli, Monaldi Hospital, Naples, Italy
,
Giacomo Sica
1   Section of General Radiology, Department of Diagnostic Imaging, Azienda dei Colli, Monaldi Hospital, Naples, Italy
› Author Affiliations
› Further Information
Also available at
   Permissions and Reprints

Abstract

Lipomas are the most common form of benign soft tissue tumors in humans, occurring infrequently in visceral organs. Pulmonary lipomas are seen rarely and can occur such as an endobronchial (80%) or peripheral parenchymal (20%) lesion. Less than 10 cases of lung peripheral lipoma are described in literature, none cavitated. We report the clinical case of a 51-year-old emphysematous smoker man with a peripheral intrapulmonary middle-lobe cavitating lipoma, revealed during a routine chest X-ray for emphysema, subsequently confirmed by high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) and positron emission tomography (PET)–CT. Some hypotheses are made about the origin of cavitation. Biopsy and surgery were not done due to the fully benign nodular features at imaging. The nodule was unchanged till 2 years, last follow-up with low-dose HRCT. It is probably useful to choose a conservative approach with a follow-up, if there is a high suspicion of benignity.

Keywords

computed tomography - management - positron emission tomography - pulmonary lipoma


Publication History

Article published online:
06 October 2021

© 2021. Indian Radiological Association. This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonDerivative-NonCommercial License, permitting copying and reproduction so long as the original work is given appropriate credit. Contents may not be used for commercial purposes, or adapted, remixed, transformed or built upon. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

Thieme Medical and Scientific Publishers Pvt. Ltd.
A-12, 2nd Floor, Sector 2, Noida-201301 UP, India

 

  • References

  • 1 Plachta A, Hershey H. Lipoma of the lung. Review of the literature and report of a case. Am Rev Respir Dis 1962; 86: 912-916
    PubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 2 Gaerte SC, Meyer CA, Winer-Muram HT, Tarver RD, Conces Jr DJ. Fat-containing lesions of the chest. Radiographics 2002; 22 (spec no): S61-S78
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 3 Zhu CM, Chang L, Ge XS, Yuan XY, Cao L. Intrapulmonary lipoma: a case report and literature review. World J Pediatr 2015; 11 (02) 185-187
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 4 Hirata T, Reshad K, Itoi K, Muro K, Akiyama J. Lipomas of the peripheral lung–a case report and review of the literature. Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 1989; 37 (06) 385-387
    Article in Thieme ConnectPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 5 Wood J, Henderson RG. Peripheral intrapulmonary lipoma: a rare lung neoplasm. Br J Radiol 2004; 77 (913) 60-62
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 6 Erkiliç S, Koçer NE, Tunçozgür B. Peripheral intrapulmonary lipoma: a case report. Acta Chir Belg 2007; 107 (06) 700-702
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 7 Castro Ramírez N, Cano Pazmiño F, Rivera Rivera T. Peripheral intrapulmonary lipoma: a case report [in Spanish]. Arch Bronconeumol 2015; 51 (07) 360-361
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 8 Takahashi Y, Shima T, Harada M, Horio H. Thoracoscopic enucleation for intrapulmonary lipoma: case report. Asian Cardiovasc Thorac Ann 2015; 23 (03) 338-340
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 9 Muraoka M, Oka T, Akamine S. et al. Endobronchial lipoma: review of 64 cases reported in Japan. Chest 2003; 123 (01) 293-296
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 10 Siegelman SS, Khouri NF, Scott Jr. WW. et al. Pulmonary hamartoma: CT findings. Radiology 1986; 160 (02) 313-317
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 11 Hansell DM, Bankier AA, MacMahon H, McLoud TC, Müller NL, Remy J. Fleischner Society: glossary of terms for thoracic imaging. Radiology 2008; 246 (03) 697-722
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar
  • 12 Molinari F, Bankier AA, Eisenberg RL. Fat-containing lesions in adult thoracic imaging. AJR Am J Roentgenol 2011; 197 (05) W795-813
    CrossrefPubMedGoogle Scholar