Intramuscular myxoma of the masseter muscle. A case report

Abstract

Purpose: Myxomas are benign, locally infiltrative, connective tissue tumors that rarely occur in the head and neck region. The purpose of this paper is to describe a very rare case of an intramuscular myxoma of the masseter muscle.

Methods: A 74-year-old man presented with a 2-year history of a painless swelling over his left preauricular region. Computed tomography scan showed an intramasseter well-defined soft tissue mass. After a preauricular approach, a circumscribed solid gelatinous tumor was excised with thin margins including adjacent muscle tissue.

Results: Histopathology revealed an intramuscular myxoma, completely resected. The patient made an uneventful recovery, and there were no signs of recurrence 26 months after surgery.

Conclusions: Intramuscular myxoma of the masseter is an extremely rare entity, but it must be considered in the differential diagnosis of the swellings of the preauricular region.