Is surgical treatment of lipoblastoma always necessary?
Lipoblastoma is an uncommon, benign mesenchymal tumor with an excellent prognosis despite its potential to local invasion and rapid growth. However, in the literature, a spontaneous resolution has never been reported, and, consequently, the need for a complete surgical excision has never been questioned. The authors report a case of a 2-day-old boy with congenital diffuse lipoblastoma in the left thigh, which forced us to withhold from surgical treatment to avoid the risk of mutilation in a patient so young. The lesion was followed-up by imaging, and a complete spontaneous resolution of the diffuse lipoblastoma was shown by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at 1-year follow-up. In the literature, a complete surgical excision is recommended. The results of this case suggest that a "wait and see" approach is justified at least in infants with huge invasive lesions requiring a mutilating excision.
Mognato
G
G
Department of Pediatrics, University of Padua, Italy.
Cecchetto
G
G
Carli
M
M
Talenti
E
E
d'Amore
E S
ES
Pederzini
F
F
Guglielmi
M
M
D006615:Hip; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008067:Lipoma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal; D012983:Soft Tissue Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery*