Ear
Middle ear and inner ear tumors - benign / nonneoplastic
Lipochoristoma
Author: Nat Pernick, M.D.
Last author update: 1 October 2013
Last staff update: 14 December 2020
Copyright: 2002-2023, PathologyOutlines.com, Inc.
PubMed Search: Lipochoristoma
Table of Contents
Definition / general | Radiology images | Case reports | Treatment | Gross description | Microscopic (histologic) description | Additional referencesCite this page: Pernick N. Lipochoristoma. PathologyOutlines.com website. https://www.pathologyoutlines.com/topic/earlipochoristoma.html. Accessed June 3rd, 2023.
Definition / general
- Also called lipomatous choristoma
- Rare tumor of cranial nerve VIII within acoustic canal or cerebellopontine angle
- 0.1% of cerebellopontine angle tumors; may be misdiagnosed radiologically as vestibular schwannoma
- May be a congenital malformation
- Indolent behavior, in contrast to acoustic neuroma or meningioma
- 70% men; associated with hearing loss
Radiology images
Images hosted on other servers:
Lipochoristoma of internal auditory canal
Case reports
- 51 year old woman with left sided severe hearing loss, tinnitus, mild episodic vertigo and facial paresthesias progressive over 1 year (J Neurol Surg Rep 2015;76:e52)
Treatment
- Conservative management with interval imaging is recommended due to the indolent nature and intimate involvement of the auditory nerve (J Neurol Surg Rep 2015;76:e52)
- Surgery is reserved for growing lesions or those with disabling vestibular symptoms
Gross description
- Arise from CN VIII (cochlear or vestibular branch), pink-ivory-gray-maroon, soft rubbery, unilateral
Microscopic (histologic) description
- Normal nerve components (myelinated nerve branches, glia cells, neurons, small thin walled vessels), mature adipose tissue with variable amounts of mature fibrous tissue, tortuous thick walled vessels, smooth muscle bundles and skeletal muscle fibers
Additional references
