Sphenoclival Intraosseous Lipoma in Skull Base

Abstract

Intraosseous lipoma is a rare benign tumor, mostly occurring in lower limb especially in os calcis and the metaphyses of long bones. Intraosseous lipoma of the skull is even rarer, with 12 cases having been reported to involve the sphenoid bone in the literature. We present the third reported case of sphenoclival intraosseous lipoma in a 43-year-old man with headache, hyperprolactinemia and visual disturbance. Performed Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) revealed pituitary macroadenoma as well as a mildly expansile lesion with high signal intensity on both T1- and T2-weighted sequences within the left greater wing of the sphenoid and the clivus. The patient refused to undergo surgical removal of pituitary macroadenoma and medical treatment was initiated instead; thereafter, follow up Computed Tomography (CT) and MRI scans revealed regression of the pituitary macroadenoma whereas the sphenoclival lesion was depicted as a welldefined fat-containing intraosseous lesion which showed no perceptible growth, 17 months later.