Sialolipoma in Minor Salivary Gland: Case Report and Review of the Literature

Sialolipoma is a rare benign neoplasm characterized by a well-circumscribed mass composed of neoplastic mature adipose tissue and non-neoplastic salivary gland elements. A 72-year-old woman presented with a painless swelling located in the hard palate, which had been identified 15 days earlier. Microscopically, the tumor was well-circumscribed consisting of lobular proliferation of the lipomatous tissue with thin fibrous tissue septa containing clustered salivary gland elements. Both the glandular and adipose components were found in almost equal proportion. No atypia in the adipose tissue was observed. The definitive diagnosis was sialolipoma. The patient showed no signs of recurrence 8 months after surgical excision. Including the present case, 35 cases of sialolipoma have been reported in the English literature. Of these 35 cases, 16 cases were located in minor salivary glands. Gender was identified in 14 of these cases with 4 males (28.5%) and 10 females (71.5%). The age distribution was from 27 to 84 years (mean, 61.6 years) and the tumor size ranged from 0.9 to 4 cm (mean, 1.7 cm). The most frequently reported clinical presentation was of a painless swelling (56.3%).