title: Hemangioma of the temporal muscle.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Hemangiomas are benign vascular tumors. Because less than 1% of all hemangiomas are intramuscular, only 8 cases of temporal muscle hemangioma have been described to date. This is a case study of a 13-year-old girl who was referred to our institution because of a soft swelling located in the left temple that has enlarged progressively since birth.
  
  
  METHODS
  CT scan, angiography and MRI showed a tumor mass lying in the temporal muscle, with homogeneous contrast enhancement. No tumor blush or feeding arteries were detected. At surgical exploration, the tumor appeared to be well demarcated. It was totally excised, sparing the surrounding temporal muscle, which did not present any sign of infiltration. Histopathologic examination showed the lesion to be a cavernous hemangioma.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The cosmetic result was excellent, and MRI after 1 month and 2 years showed complete absence of the lesion and no evidence of recurrence.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although this type of tumor may be treated by various methods surgical excision yields the best results in the short and the long term. The surrounding tissue is spared as much as possible when no signs of infiltration are noted at operation, especially when involving small and functionally important muscles, as in our case.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Neurosurgery, School of Medicine, University Federico II, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cappabianca
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cirillo
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: de Divitiis
authors.forename: M B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: de Caro
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Spaziante
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zona
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D005260:Female; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy; D006392:Hemangioma, Cavernous / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology* / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D013703:Temporal Muscle