Differential diagnosis of soft scalp lumps.
A 56-year-old man presented with a painless cyst on the top of his head which has been increasing in size in the last 6 months. Due to his learning disability, he could not be dissuaded from his belief that the lump was a sign of brain prolapse which led to increasing agitation in the next 2 weeks. A provisional diagnosis of benign lipoma was made and prompt excision was performed in his best interests. The lesion was more cystic and fluctuant than that of a lipoma and hence it was sent for histological diagnosis. The report came back as a trichilemmal cyst with no signs of proliferation. Cosmetic outcome was reasonable at follow-up after 3 months. The patient was scheduled for regular review every 6 months.
Department of Family Medicine, Queen's University, Kingston, Canada. leungl@queensu.ca
Lawrence K
LK
Leung
D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004814:Epidermal Cyst; D005497:Follicular Cyst / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D006201:Hair Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008067:Lipoma / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012535:Scalp; D012536:Scalp Dermatoses / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery