[Provocable tumor of the cheek as a manifestation of so-called "infiltrating lipoma" of the masseter muscle]

Abstract

We report on a 29-year-old male patient, who presented at our outpatient clinic with a 6-year history of progressive swelling of the right cheek. Contraction of the masseter muscle increased the swelling. MR-Imaging revealed a tumor measuring 2 x 3 cm, which was located within the masseter muscle. The histological diagnosis was infiltrating lipoma, which to our knowledge has not been described in this area before. This particular type of lipoma is extremely rare in the head and neck. The diagnostic and therapeutic management of infiltrating lipoma is discussed, and guidelines for adequate follow-up suggested. In addition, the authors review other sites of this tumor and describe its histological characteristics and differential diagnosis.