Head and neck lipomas: A clinicopathologic analysis of 36 cases

Lipomas are common benign soft tissue tumors, with 15 to 20% of the cases affecting the head and neck region and 1 to 4% involving the oral cavity. The literature has many reported cases of head and neck lipoma but few comprehensive studies hence, the aim of this study was to review and analyze the clinical and histopathologic features of head and neck lipomas in Nigerians. A fifteen-year retrospective study evaluated thirty-six cases of head and neck lipomas among Nigerians. Head and neck lipomas constituted about one-tenth (9.4%) of the total body lipomas seen over the study period. The peak age incidence was fifth decade of life and most (58.3%) of these patients were older than 40 years. There was male gender predilection with male to female ratio of 1.4:1. The most common site of occurrence was forehead (41.7%), followed by scalp and cheek (16.7% each). Lipomas were seen in two intraoral locations (lip and tongue) and these accounted for 13.9% of the head and neck lipomas and 1.3% of lipomas in the whole body. The average size of the lesion was 3.3 cm. Head and neck lipomas are fairly common among Nigerians who are more than 40 years of age. While the conventional and fibrolipoma were the two histologic variants recorded, complete surgical excision of the lesion offered satisfactory treatment outcome. Key words: Head and neck, lipoma.