Surgical treatment of a giant lipoma in the parotid gland.

Recently, a case of deep-lobe lipoma with enucleation was reported, but frozen-section biopsy for the confirmation of the malignancy was not done. It has been suggested that lipoma in the deeper tissues should be regarded as a well-differentiated liposarcoma and be treated with wide excision. Our experience is that of a 75-year-old woman who had a mass with fat density in the deep lobe of the right parotid gland, which extended through the parapharyngeal and the buccal spaces. Lumpectomy with frozen-section biopsy was performed, not only preserving branches of facial nerve but also ruling out the malignancy. Frozen-section biopsy showed a lipomatous lesion without malignancy, so further treatment such as total parotidectomy was not needed.