Case Report
Clinical Pathology
Extraskeletal chondroma of the masseter muscle: a case report with review of the literature

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijom.2009.02.020Get rights and content

Abstract

The authors report a case of soft tissue chondroma of the masseter muscle in a 49- year-old man. The tumour was entirely composed of lobules of hyaline cartilage. The literature on head and neck soft tissue chondroma is also reviewed. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first case of muscular soft tissue chondroma in the head and neck region.

Section snippets

Case report

A 49-year-old man was admitted with a 6 year history of swelling in the left preauricular region that had increased in the last year. Clinical examination revealed a 5 cm diameter, well-circumscribed nodule, covered by normal skin in the left preauricular region (Fig. 1A); it appeared firm and painless, and floating in superficial planes.

Ultrasound examination revealed a well-circumscribed, 4 cm diameter, nodular mass in the masseter muscle with a non homogeneous hypoechoic structure and

Discussion

The authors report a rare case of a primary benign cartilaginous tumour in the masseter muscle of a 49- year-old male of 6 years’ duration. Extraskeletal chondromas are benign tumours arising in soft tissues unrelated to the bone.

The aetiology of soft tissue chondromas is unknown but it is thought that they arise from residual embryonic tissue or from metaplastic pluripotential mesenchymal cells10, 39. The tumour cells probably arise from uncommitted mesenchymal stem cells either by metaplastic

Competing interests

None declared

Funding

None

Ethical approval

Not required

References (50)

  • H. Sera et al.

    A case of chondroma of the tongue

    Int J Oral Maxillofac Surg

    (2005)
  • R. Spanta et al.

    Soft tissue chondroma of the fallopian tube. Differential diagnosis and histogenetic considerations

    Pathol Res Pract

    (1995)
  • Y. Tani et al.

    Chondroma of the tongue

    J Oral Maxillofac Surg

    (1989)
  • N. van der Wal et al.

    Osteoma or chondroma of the tongue; a clinical and postmortem study

    Int J Oral Maxillofac Surg

    (1987)
  • P.A. Viglioglia et al.

    Chondroma of the tongue

    Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol

    (1970)
  • T. Yasuoka et al.

    Chondroma of the tongue. Report of a case

    J Maxillofac Surg

    (1984)
  • J. Yoel et al.

    Chondroma of the tongue

    Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol

    (1965)
  • D.J. Zegarelli

    Chondroma of the tongue

    Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol

    (1977)
  • C.M. Allen

    The ectomesenchymal chondromyxoid tumor: a review

    Oral Dis

    (2008)
  • M.B. Aslam et al.

    Extraskeletal chondroma of parotid gland

    Histopathology

    (2006)
  • M.R. Blum et al.

    Soft tissue chondroma of the cheek

    J Oral Pathol Med

    (1993)
  • S.E. Chang et al.

    A case of lingual chondroma

    Br J Dermatol

    (1999)
  • E.B. Chung et al.

    Benign chondromas of soft part

    Cancer

    (1978)
  • C. Dahlin et al.

    Cartilaginous tumors of the soft tissues of the hands and feet

    Mayo Clin Proc

    (1974)
  • C.E. del Rio

    Chondroma of the tongue: review of the literature and a case report

    J Oral Med

    (1978)
  • Cited by (18)

    • A massive soft-tissue chondroma in the parapharyngeal space

      2023, Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Medicine, and Pathology
    • Extraskeletal chondroma walling the temporomandibular joint: Report of a rare case and review of the literature

      2018, International Journal of Surgery Case Reports
      Citation Excerpt :

      The etiology of extraskeletal chondroma is unknown. It is believed that the tumor originates from residual embryonic tissue or pluripotent mesenchymal stem cells [4,10]. The usual clinical manifestation involves a progressive slow-growing preauricular mass that occasionally causes local tenderness or pain [1].

    • Diagnostic approach to intramasseteric nodules

      2017, Oral Surgery, Oral Medicine, Oral Pathology and Oral Radiology
      Citation Excerpt :

      Falleti et al.12 reported a case of a masseteric chondroma in a 49-year-old man, with a 6-year history of a firm and painless swelling covered by normal skin. Ultrasonography revealed a uniform hypoechoic structure with calcifications.12 He et al. reported a case of an intramasseteric schwannoma in a middle-aged woman with a 3-year history of a painless mass in her right cheek.11

    • A case of extraskeletal chondroma of the temporomandibular joint capsule

      2015, Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Medicine, and Pathology
      Citation Excerpt :

      Extraskeletal chondroma (ESC) is a benign tumor that usually occurs adjacent to the periarticular tissues or tendosynovium, without any adhesion to the underlying bone [1]. ESC rarely occurs in the oral and maxillofacial regions [2], and to our knowledge, it has not been reported in the region of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ). We present an extremely rare case of ESC that developed in the TMJ capsule.

    • Nodular lesion in the buccal mucosa

      2015, Journal of the American Dental Association
    • Heterotopic ossifying tumors in head and neck and heterotopic ossification and calcification

      2012, Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Medicine, and Pathology
      Citation Excerpt :

      In the oral cavity, previous reports noted that the tumor appears in the parapharyngeal space [9], cheek [10–13], tongue [14–17], masticatory space [18], soft palate [19] and tonsil [20]. Recently, Falleti et al. [21] reported a total of 35 cases of soft tissue chondroma in the head and neck. The tongue was the most frequent area (21/35), and about 1/3 of the tumors arose in the tongue, similar to those in extraskeletal osteoma of the oral cavity.

    View all citing articles on Scopus
    View full text