Abstract
Lipoblastoma is a rare, benign tumor usually occurring in childhood. It is essentially
localized in the extremities and trunk, with few cases reported in the neck. We report
the case of a 2-year-old girl with a rapidly enlarging, painless neck mass. Magnetic
resonance imaging (MRI) revealed a 3-cm mass in the right submandibular region. Review
of literature, diagnostic methods, and genetics of lipomatous tumors are discussed.
Complete surgical excision via a lateral cervical approach demonstrated a white soft
tissue with an adherent ganglion. Histology and immunohistochemistry confirmed the
diagnosis of lipoblastoma. Cervical lipoblastoma is rare, and typically asymptomatic,
rarely causing nerve compression or airway obstruction. MRI can help identifying the
lipomatous nature of the mass, but the findings can be inconsistent due to variable
maturity of fat cells and the mesenchymal content of the tumor. Diagnosis is always
based on pathological examination. Further chromosomal analysis is useful in differentiating
lipoblastoma from liposarcoma. Complete surgical excision is the recommended treatment.
Keywords
Benign tumor - head and neck - immunohistochemestry - lipoblastoma - liposarcoma
