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Review
. 2019 May 7:33:12.
doi: 10.11604/pamj.2019.33.12.18541. eCollection 2019.

A huge retropharyngeal lipoma: a rare cause of dysphagia: a case report and literature review

Monia Ghammam  1 , Jihene Houas  1 , Mouna Bellakhdher  1 , Mohamed Abdelkefi  1
Affiliations
Review

A huge retropharyngeal lipoma: a rare cause of dysphagia: a case report and literature review

Monia Ghammam et al. Pan Afr Med J. .

Abstract

Dysphagia is commonly seen after a cerebral vascular accident. It is rarely caused by lipomas of the retropharyngeal region which are rare benign mesenchymal neoplasms. We report a case of a 53-year-old man who presented with a history of ptyalism and dysphagia occurring after a brain stroke. Flexible nasal endoscopy revealed a pooling of saliva in both pyriform sinuses. Cervical and neurological examinations were unremarkable. Computed tomography (CT) scan suggested the diagnosis of retropharyngeal lipoma. The mass was resected by trans-cervical approach. The histological examination confirmed the diagnosis of a retropharyngeal lipoma. The postoperative course was unremarkable. Although lipomas in the retropharyngeal space are rare, clinicians should evoke this diagnosis when treating a patient presenting with dysphagia, even if there is a medical history of cerebral vascular accident.

Keywords: Lipoma; dysphagia; retropharyngeal; surgery.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
CT (computed tomography) image of the head and neck shows a homogeneous, low density mass measuring 110 cm × 73 cm × 26 cm in the posterior pharyngeal wall, extending from C2 to C7
Figure 2
Figure 2
intraoperative photo shows the dissection of the mass of the retropharyngeal space
Figure 3
Figure 3
gross specimen
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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