Spine and Spinal Disorders

Biography

Biography: Khoo Yee Hwa

Abstract

Giant lipoma, especially in children are rare, representing a real diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. Workup to establish the diagnosis is vital. Occurrence of such giant lipoma is a rare as parents would seek medical attention in such cases. This case seen in a five year old is pivotal study in the surgical study of lipomas. This is a case report on 5 years old boy, no known medical illness, from Sandakan. He presented with posterior neck swelling since he was 1 year old. Initially was the size of a golf ball and slowly increasing in size. The swelling did not accompany with pain, abnormal discharge and restricted neck movement. Child is active and cheerful. On examination, it was a solitary mass, over posterior neck, extending from nape of neck, centrally located, measured about 30ï‚´32ï‚´33 cm. The mass is soft in consistency, pedunculated mass, non-tender on palpation, non-erythematous, overlying skin have small pressure ulcer. MRI neck was done and was noted to have soft tissue tumor with no intracranial or intre-spinal involvement. Patient underwent excision of lipoma. The lipoma weighs 2 kg. On histopathology, the diagnosis is fibrolipoma. At sixth month follow up, child was normal without any complications. It can be concluded that giant lipomas of this dimension are a rare occurrence. Especially, these cases are not usually seen in children. Also, such clinical presentation would have the patient seeking medical attention at a very early stage of the tumor. This is an interesting case study due to its rare occurrence.