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Recent Edition
Case Report
Volume 1 Issue 1 - 2016
Mediastinal widening due to lipomatosis in Nigeria: Case report
Wilson I. B. Onuigbo* and Humphrey C. Anyanwu
Departments of Pathology and Surgery The University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu 400001, Nigeria
*Corresponding Author: Wilson I. B. Onuigbo, Departments of Pathology and Surgery The University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu 400001, Nigeria.
Received: November 24, 2016; Published: December 09, 2016
Abstract
A recent case was reported from India with respect to the widening of the mediastinum due to lipomatosis. Therefore, this Nigerian case is presented likewise. Then, the related presentations are added from the literature.
Keywords: Lipoma; mediastinum; case report; India; Nigeria
Introduction
From India, Kumar and associates [1] recently presented the case of a 65-year-old male with mediastinal lipomatosis. Accordingly, having come across a similar case, we report it from Nigeria.
Case Report
OM, a 40-year-old man hailed from the Igbo/Ibo ethnic group [2]. He presented to one of us (HCA) with the history of dry cough for 20 months. Both right chest pain and retrosternal pain were also complained of. After the usual investigations, surgical extirpation was carried out. It was found that a fatty mass was situated more to the right of the mediastinum and extending from both lobes of the thymus.
The specimen was received for microscopy by one of us (WIBO). It was a flat, irregular, fibro fatty mass 12 cm across. Microscopy after the usual laboratory preparations revealed the presence of lipoma.
Discussion
With regard to lipoma occurring within the chest, Suhai’s associates [3] wrote from Egypt to the effect that endobronchial lipoma is an infrequent cause of total lung collapse. Likewise, from Denmark, Sivapalan’s group [4] reported a similar case of obstructing endobronchial lipoma.
More commonly, there are reports of this lesion with respect to the chest wall itself from Korea [5], and Japan [6]. Indeed, David and Marshall [7] reviewed chest wall tumors, stressing that this wall plays a “critical role in the protection of thoracic and mediastinal viscera” and pointing out that they “provide an interesting diagnostic and therapeutic challenge for surgeons.” Incidentally, I am persuaded that, as in this case, the pathologists also have their own share of such challenges!
References
  1. Kumar S., et al. “Mediastinal widening secondary to mediastinal lipomatosis”. The Internet Journal of Pulmonary Medicine 9.2 (2006): 1-4.
  2. Basden GT. Niger Ibos. Cass, London 1966.
  3. Suhail FA., et al. “An infrequent cause of total lung collapse: Endobronchial lipoma”. Alexandria Journal of Medicine 51.2 (2015): 175-177.
  4. Sivapalan P., et al. “An obstructing endobronchial lipoma simulating COPD”. European Clinical Respiratory Journal 12.1 (2014): 25664.
  5. Lee JH., et al. “Well-circumscribed type of intramuscular lipoma in the chest wall”. Journal of Cardiothoracic Surgery 6. (2013):
  6. Takamori S., et al. “Intramuscular lipoma in the chest wall”. European Journal Cardio-Thoracic Surgery 26.5 (2004): 1038.
  7. David E and Marshall MB. “Review of chest wall tumors: A diagnostic, therapeutic, and reconstructive challenge”. Seminars in Plastic Surgery 25.1 (2001): 16-24.
Citation: Wilson I. B. Onuigbo and Humphrey C. Anyanwu. “Mediastinal widening due to lipomatosis in Nigeria: Case report”. Pulmonary Research and Respiratory Care 1.1 (2016): 7-8.
Copyright: © 2016 Wilson I. B. Onuigbo and Humphrey C. Anyanwu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.