Intramuscular hemangioma formation in the masseter muscle: a case report

Hemangioma is a benign vascular proliferation. Intramuscular hemangiomas are rare, accounting for less than 1% of all hemangiomas, and occur normally in the trunk and extremities. Approximately 10-20% of intramuscular hemangiomas are found in the head and neck region, most often in the masseter muscles. The typical clinical characteristic is a painful soft tissue mass without cutaneous changes. The suggested treatment is a surgical excision. We report a case of an intramuscular hemagnioma of the masseter muscle. The patient was a 56 year old male who visited our clinic complaining of left facial swelling after 2 years of follow up at a different clinic. After magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the mass was excised under general anesthesia. The biopsy revealed the mass to be an intramuscular hemangioma. We report the clinical and pathological characteristics as well as the treatment of a case of an intramuscular hemangioma of the masseter muscle.