Breast Reshaping with Dermaglandular Flaps After Giant Lipoma Removal: Versatility of Oncoplastic Techniques

Abstract

Lipomas of the breast are benign lesions that do not raise great interest in the literature and their incidence is unclear. They usually are small, benign soft tissue tumors of fat cells that can be treated by simple excision. Although lipoma is a banal condition, it often causes diagnostic and therapeutic uncertainty. The first reason for this is the normal fatty composition of the breast. Second, it may be difficult to distinguish a lipoma from other benign or malignant lumps. This report presents a rare case involving giant lipoma of the breast that compromised most of the mass of the breast. After resection, the remaining breast was reshaped using multiple dermaglandular flaps to restore the breast mound, and contralateral breast mammaplasty was performed for symmetry. This case is a good illustration of the oncoplastic reconstruction options available after wide local excision.

A 5 kg giant breast lipoma in a 40-year-old woman: a case report

“…Although some studies have mentioned breast lipomas to be common and some as uncommon, only a few cases of “giant” lipomas have been reported in the literature 4 , 11 – 17 . Rodriguez et al 18 .…”

Development of a surgical algorithm by using pre-operative imaging to predict mammoplasty cosmetic outcomes for large non-malignant tumours

“…Large non-malignant tumours, such as giant fibroadenomas, phyllodes tumours and giant lipomas, are rare (1)(2)(3) and often cause breast distortion and asymmetry. Although these tumours are non-malignant, surgical excision is the mainstay of treatment for these masses.…”