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. 2010 Nov 25:4:380.
doi: 10.1186/1752-1947-4-380.

Computed tomography imaging of subpleural lipoma in two men: two case reports

Christoph A Karlo  1 , Paul Stolzmann, Thomas Frauenfelder, Olivio F Donati, Sebastian Leschka
Affiliations

Computed tomography imaging of subpleural lipoma in two men: two case reports

Christoph A Karlo et al. J Med Case Rep. .

Abstract

Introduction: Subpleural lipomas are very rare pleural lesions and are often discovered incidentally in asymptomatic patients on conventional radiographs.

Case presentations: We report two cases of subpleural lipomas and describe their imaging characteristics on chest radiographs and computed tomography. We describe the cases of two Caucasian men, aged 77 and 62 years old.

Conclusions: For non-invasive diagnostic investigation, computed tomography enables the identification and quantification of these tumors due to their characteristic fat attenuation.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Posterior-anterior chest radiograph demonstrating a well delineated, solid mass in projection to the left upper lobe in our 77-year-old patient. Note the angle between the lesion's border and the pleura, which suggests the lesion to be of pleural origin.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Lateral view chest radiograph demonstrating the well delineated, solid mass in projection to the left upper lobe adjacent to the ventral chest wall in our 77-year-old patient.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Axial computed tomography (CT) image showing the characteristic hypodense condition of the lesion compatible with a fat-containing tumor, in this case a subpleural lipoma.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Coronal reformatted computed tomography (CT) image showing the subpleural lipoma (arrowhead).
Figure 5
Figure 5
Posterior-anterior view chest radiograph demonstrating a small, well delineated, solid lesion (arrowhead) in projection to the upper lobe on the left side in our 62-year-old patient.
Figure 6
Figure 6
The small, well delineated, solid lesion shown on Figure 5 was not detectable on the lateral view chest radiograph.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Axial computed tomography (CT) image in mediastinal soft tissue window-level setting shows the characteristic appearance of a fat-containing tumor with density values of approximately -50 to -100HU (Hounsfield units), in this case a subpleural lipoma.
Figure 8
Figure 8
Axial computed tomography (CT) image in lung window-level setting depicting the subpleural lipoma.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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