A Giant Angiolipoma

Abstract

Angiolipomas are uncommon benign vascular adipocytic mesenchymal tumors and generally present as painful subcutaneous nodules in the extremities and trunk. Chest wall is a rare site for angiolipoma. We describe a case of a giant retromammary angiolipoma that presented clinically as an apparent large breast lump. This tumor was surgically excised after preoperative angioembolization. Latter was carried out to reduce intraoperative bleeding and facilitate the excision. We recommend keeping benign tumors such as angiolipomas in differential when dealing with apparent breast/chest wall lumps. We also advocate preoperative angioembolization in select cases while excising large angiolipomas to decrease perioperative blood loss.