Surgical Treatment of a Giant Lipoma in the Parotid Gland

• DOI: 10.1097/scs.0b013e3181b1464e
• Publication Date: 2009-09-17T07:13:53Z
• Authors: Dong-Seok Kim; Ho Kwon; Gyeol You; Sung-No Jung
• Keywords: Biopsy; Microtomy; Mohs Surgery; Parotid Neoplasms; Facial Nerve; 03 medical and health sciences; 0302 clinical medicine; Adipose Tissue; Humans; Female; Lipoma; Tomography, X-Ray Computed; Aged; Follow-Up Studies

Recently, a case of deep-lobe lipoma with enucleation was reported, but frozen-section biopsy for the confirmation of the malignancy was not done. It has been suggested that lipoma in the deeper tissues should be regarded as a well-differentiated liposarcoma and be treated with wide excision. Our experience is that of a 75-year-old woman who had a mass with fat density in the deep lobe of the right parotid gland, which extended through the parapharyngeal and the buccal spaces. Lumpectomy with frozen-section biopsy was performed, not only preserving branches of facial nerve but also ruling out the malignancy. Frozen-section biopsy showed a lipomatous lesion without malignancy, so further treatment such as total parotidectomy was not needed.