title: Well-circumscribed intramuscular lipoma of the sternocleidomastoid muscle.
abstract: Intramuscular lipomas are unusual benign mesenchymal tumours, which infiltrate the skeletal muscle, and are exceedingly rare in the head and neck region. They commonly infiltrate the skeletal muscle fibres from which they arise and are rarely well circumscribed. We present the only documented case of well-circumscribed intramuscular lipoma arising from the sternocleidomastoid muscle. Although the recurrence is commoner in the infiltrative variety the surgeon should be aware that differentiation between infiltrative and well circumscribed is based on histological diagnosis, and hence wide excision in all cases of intramuscular lipomas is essential.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, University of Cambridge, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Box 48, Clinic 10, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 2QQ, UK. moumoulidis@aol.com
authors.forename: Ioannis
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Moumoulidis
authors.forename: Phani
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Durvasula
authors.forename: Piyush
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jani
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D008067:Lipoma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D012983:Soft Tissue Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed