Sialolipoma of Parotid Gland: a Lesser Known Entity

Abstract

Around 51 cases of sialolipoma of the salivary gland have been reported worldwide as per the literature reviewed. Majority of cases (n = 25) arise from the parotid gland (51.4%) clinically behaving like pleomorphic adenoma with very less incidence of facial nerve entrapment (14%). Sialolipoma is a rare neoplasm of the salivary glands, described as a distinct entity by Nagao et al. in 2001. Lipomatous neoplasms of the parotid gland are rare tumours accounting 0.6 to 4.4% of all parotid neoplasms with most series reporting an incidence of 1%. It is extremely rare in females, being 10 times more common in males, and the most common age of presentation is the fifth to sixth decade. Numerous histological variants of salivary gland lipoma have been described. Sialolipoma is a rare variant having proliferation of mature adipocytes with secondary entrapment of the normal salivary gland element. We report a rare case of sialolipoma in the left parotid of a 49-year-old woman presented to General Surgery Department who was treated with superficial parotidectomy.