PHARYNGEAL LIPOMA WITH CARTILAGINOUS METAPLASIA (CHONDROLIPOMA) - A CASE-REPORT AND LITERATURE-REVIEW

The relative rarity of pharyngeal lipomas and paucity of clinical mani festations in the early stages of tumour growth conspire to task the d iagnostic acumen of the clinician. A high index of suspicion and metic ulous examination are essential in order to arrive at the diagnosis, w hich may be achieved pre-operatively by computerized axial tomography revealing a mass lesion with a characteristic low attenuation value. A case of pharyngeal chondrolipoma in a 25-year-old male is reported. I t is suggested that this conceptually intriguing and rarely encountere d lesion can be explained on the basis of neoplastic transformation of the second to fourth pharyngeal cleft mesenchymal rests displaying bo th adipose and cartilaginous differentiation. Alternatively, the carti lage could represent vestigial remnants of non-neoplastic pharyngeal c left tissue entrapped within a primarily lipomatous neoplasm. Slow gro wth may occur over a period of several years, prior to overt clinical manifestation.