Clinico-pathologic Appraisal of Lipomatous Lesions in the Head and Neck Region; a Multicenter Nigerian Study

Lipomatous tumors originate from adipocytes, and represent the largest group of mesenchymal tumors. Lipomas are most likely under reported due to their insidious growth. About 13% of lipomas occur in the head and neck region. When they occur in the maxillofacial region, it is likely for the patients to be referred to the hospital for aesthetical reasons. In this multicenter study, data such as age, sex, duration of lesion, widest diameter of lesion and histological diagnosis was extracted from three university teaching hospitals in Nigeria. 50 cases of lipomatous tumours were seen during the study period. There were 30 males and 20 females. Age ranged between 2 months and 62 years. 14 cases (28%) were seen in the age group of 41-50 years. There was no statistical difference between age, sex and duration of lesion (P= 0.995, 0.183 and 0.482, respectively). There were 48 cases of benign lipomatous tumors and 2 cases of malignant types with a statistical significant difference (P< 0.001). Most of the lesions (23 cases (46.0%)) were located in the cheek. As most of lipomatous lesions in the head and neck region are benign neoplasm with low prevalence in the oral cavity, health care providers must be able to diagnose the lesion and manage them appropriately.