title: Laparoscopic enucleation of a giant submucosal esophageal lipoma. Case report and literature review.
abstract: Patient: Female, 40Final Diagnosis: Esophageal lipomaSymptoms: -Medication: -Clinical Procedure: Laparoscopic enucleationSpecialty: SurgeryObjective: Rare disease.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Benign tumors of the esophagus are very rare, constituting only 0.5% to 0.8% of all esophageal neoplasms. Approximately 60% of benign esophageal neoplasms are leiomyomas, 20% are cysts, 5% are polyps, and less than 1% are lipomas.
  
  
  METHODS
  A 40-year-old woman was referred to our department with dysphagia that had progressively worsened during the previous 2 years. Physical examination on admission produced normal findings. Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy revealed a submucosal space-occupying mass in the posterior wall of the lower esophagus, with normal mucosa. The mass was yellowish and soft. A computed tomography (CT) of the chest revealed a submucosal esophageal lesion in the posterior wall, with luminal narrowing of the distal esophagus. Thus, a submucosal tumor was identified in this region and esophageal submucosal lipoma was considered the most likely diagnosis. A laparoscopic operation was performed. The tumor was completely enucleated, and measured 10×7×2.5 cm. The pathology showed lipoma. The postoperative course was uneventful, and the patient was discharged 4 days after the operation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Benign tumors of the esophagus are very rare. Laparoscopic transhiatal enucleation of lower esophageal lipomas and other benign tumors is a safe and effective operation.
authors.affiliation: D' Surgical Department "G Papanikolaou" Hospital, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece.
authors.forename: Konstantinos
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tsalis
authors.forename: Nikolaos
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Antoniou
authors.forename: Stavros
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kalfadis
authors.forename: Avraam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dimoulas
authors.forename: Alexandros Karolidis Loukas
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Dagdilelis
authors.forename: Charalampos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lazaridis
keywords: enucleation; esophageal lipoma; laparoscopic