Pericallosal lipomas: a series of 10 cases with clinical and radiological features

Abstract

AIM: A pericallosal lipoma is a fat-containing lesion occurring in the interhemispheric fissure closely related to the corpus callosum, which is often abnormal. This is the most common location for an intracranial lipoma. In this study, we aim to report on the clinical and radiographic aspects of ten patients diagnosed with pericallosal lipomas. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A retrospective analysis of patients who presented to the neurology and neurosurgery outpatient clinics of Kayseri Training and Research Hospital between 2010 and 2014 revealed that 10 patients had the diagnosis of pericallosal lipoma. The clinical and magnetic resonance imaging data were obtained by reviewing their files. RESULTS: Ten patients with an average age of 35.8 years (11-80 years) were included in the study. The mean follow-up was 17 months (8-31 months). No neurological deficits related to the lesions were found during neurological examination in any of the patients. Four patients had tubulonodular lipomas while the other 6 presented with curvilinear lipomas. Four patients (40%) displayed a coexistent corpus callosum hypoplasia. In contrast to previous reports, 3 of these patients had a curvilinear lipoma while the remaining one had tubulonodular lipoma. Also, one of the patients displayed plaque lesions attributable to multiple sclerosis. During the follow-up period, no growth in the lipomas was recorded in any of the patients. No surgical intervention was performed as none of the patients displayed symptoms caused by the lipoma. CONCLUSION: In this study, we found a stronger association of corpus callosum hypoplasia with posteriorly situated curvilinear lipomas. Our results are in disagreement with previous studies, which suggested corpus callosum anomalies were more often associated with anteriorly situated tubulonodular lipomas. Pericallosal lipomas are benign, self-limiting or slow-growing lesions that generally remain asymptomatic. These lesions occur in the midline and surround critical neurovascular structures. Therefore, surgical intervention should be avoided in asymptomatic cases.