Lipoblastoma: a rare cervical mass in childhood

A 4-year-old girl had a left side cervical swelling for three months. The mass was free from surrounding tissues and excised completely. Histopathologic diagnosis of the specimen was lipoblastoma. Cervical lipoblastoma is a rapidly growing neoplasm. Only two cases of cervical lipoblastomas caused airway obstruction have been reported. Recurrence is rare in cases of lipoblastoma. Complete excision of the tumor is the treatment of choice. Seventeen cases of cervical lipoblastoma have been reported until now in the literature. but we think that lipoblastoma is more frequent than reported. Lipoblastoma must be remembered as a rare cause of cervical masses in childhood. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd, All rights reserved.