Short Case Report

Facial fibromatosis: benign and aggressive, yet treatable!

¹ Department of Surgery, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India
² Department of Pathology, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India
³ Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, Manipal College of Dental Sciences, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India
⁴ Department of Radiology, NMC Specialty Hospital, Dubai, UAE
⁵ Department of Pathology, NMC Specialty Hospital, Dubai, UAE

^* Correspondence: sunithacarnelio@yahoo.co.uk

Received: 17 March 2019
Accepted: 26 July 2019

Abstract

Fibromatosis or desmoid tumors are locally aggressive neoplasms that have a propensity for local invasion and recurrence. The mainstay of treatment is excision with negative margins and the role of radiotherapy is controversial. Desmoids arising in the head and neck area are rare and pose a dilemma to the surgeon due to large number of vital structures that preclude resection with wide margins. This leads to a high incidence of recurrence. We present a case of a 24-year-old male who presented with an asymptomatic left sided facial swelling causing cosmetic deformity. A subcutaneous lipoma/fibroma/neuroma was suspected and a fine needle aspiration done was inconclusive. Computed tomography revealed a subcutaneous swelling that was excised. Histopathology revealed it to be a desmoid tumor. At the end of 4-year-follow-up, he has no local recurrence.