Lipoma mediastinal gigante. Reporte de caso

Abstract

Introduction: Giant mediastinal lipoma is a benign encapsulated tumor characterized by abnormal adipose tissue growth, affecting 1.6% to 2.3% of the population and exceeding 10 cm or 1000 grams. As a rare and specific variant, its exact etiology remains unknown; however, it is common in individuals aged 40 to 60 years and slightly more frequent in women. Risk factors include family history, type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertriglyceridemia, and obesity. Initially asymptomatic, symptoms appear as the tumor grows, causing compression of adjacent structures. Diagnosis includes medical history and physical examination and is often discovered incidentally by imaging studies. The definitive treatment is complete surgical resection, which provides good results with low recurrence and excellent postoperative prognosis. Case presentation: A case report is presented of a 49-year-old female patient with a history of insulin resistance who presented with cough and dyspnea, and after imaging studies and a biopsy of the lesion, the diagnosis of giant lipoma was confirmed. The patient underwent a thoracotomy, recovered favorably, and was discharged. Conclusions: As a rare condition, this case report aims to enable general practitioners to identify the main symptoms, use appropriate radiological studies, and consider the most effective therapeutic options for the treatment of such lesions.