Osteolipoma of the skull base

Although lipomas are the most common benign tumours of the head and neck, t he involvement of the skull base is rare and it is also very rare for a lip oma to undergo osseous metaplasia to become an ossifying lipoma or osteolip oma. We present a case of a solitary osteolipoma involving the skull base i n a 17-year-old girl. A few cases of osteolipoma involving the head and nec k have been reported, but this may be the first reported case of a solitary osteolipoma involving the skull base with extension to the infratemporal f ossa and parapharyngeal space. The computed tomography (CT) scan helped to clinch the diagnosis and the histopathology confirmed it. The clinical pres entation, role of CT scan, surgical approach used, histological features an d the review of literature are discussed.