Skin nonmelanocytic tumor
Developmental anomalies and other hamartomas
Nevus lipomatosus superficialis
Author: Vijay Shankar, M.D.
Last author update: 1 August 2012
Last staff update: 6 August 2024 (update in progress)
Copyright: 2002-2025, PathologyOutlines.com, Inc.
PubMed Search: Nevus lipomatosus superficialis
Table of Contents
Definition / general | Terminology | Epidemiology | Clinical features | Case reports | Treatment | Clinical images | Gross description | Microscopic (histologic) description | Microscopic (histologic) images | Differential diagnosisCite this page: Shankar V. Nevus lipomatosus superficialis. PathologyOutlines.com website. https://www.pathologyoutlines.com/topic/skintumornonmelanocyticnls.html. Accessed March 30th, 2025.
Definition / general
- Nodules of mature fat tissue within dermis
- Either solitary or multiple
Terminology
- Also called nevus lipomatosus cutaneous superficialis and dermolipoma
- Not a WHO diagnosis
- First described in 1921 by Hoffman and Zurhelle
- Considered to be a developmental anomaly or hamartoma
Epidemiology
- Uncommon
- At birth or by age 20 years
Clinical features
- Buttocks or upper thighs
- Either solitary (more common) or multiple type of Hoffmann-Zurhelle (Tunis Med 2006;84:800)
Case reports
- 7 year old girl with congenital lesion of calf (J Postgrad Med 2005;51:47)
- 12 year old girl with neck lesion (Indian J Dermatol Venereol Leprol 2006;72:66)
- 33 year old man with slow growing cutaneous plaque of lumbar region (Patholog Res Int 2011;2011:105973)
- 45 year old man with lower back lesion (Indian J Dermatol Venereol Leprol 1994;60:39)
- 51 year old man with lesion on pinna for 15 years (Dermatol Online J 2010;16:12)
Treatment
- Excision - does not recur
Clinical images
Images hosted on other servers:
Lumbar region
Brown-red nodules
Gross description
- Soft yellow papules
Microscopic (histologic) description
- Mature adipocytes in dermis
- No encapsulation or connection with subcutaneous fat
- No distinct epidermal changes
Microscopic (histologic) images
Images hosted on other servers:
Dermal adipose tissue is continuous with underlying subcutis
Ectopic fat in mid to lower dermis
Nodule formed by clusters of mature fat cells
Differential diagnosis
