Nuchal fibroma: A clinicopathological review

Nuchal fibroma, or collagenosis nuchae, is a benign soft tissue tumor that arises from the posterior cervical subcutaneous tissue, with a predilection for the interscapular and paraspinal regions. Because of its benign clinic al course and its close histopathologic similarity to other benign head and neck lesions, this lesion may be misdiagnosed and underreported. The purpo se of this paper is to review the histopathologic and radiologic findings u nique to nuchal fibroma, and compare and contrast it to the other soft tiss ue neoplasms within the clinical differential diagnosis. These include seve ral benign (elastofibroma, lipoma, fibrolipoma, nodular fasciitis) and rare malignant entities (fibrosarcoma, liposarcoma, fibromatosis).