이하선에 발생한 해면성 림프관종 1예

Lymphangiomas are uncommon benign congenital tumors in the head and neck area and lymphangiomas of the parotid gland are very rare in childhood. They grow and present as painless, soft fluctuant masses and are usually detected in infancy or early childhood. Rapid enlargement may be associated with trauma, upper respiratory tract infection, or hemorrhage into the cystic spaces. Such enlargement can lead to severe complications such as upper aerodigestive tract compression and facial weakness. Various forms of treatments for lymphangiomas, including aspiration, injection of sclerosing agents, radiotherapy, and surgical excision have been used but a definitive treatment is controversial. We experienced a case of parotid lymphangioma with a rapidly enlarging mass in the right parotid region after facial trauma and treated it surgically because of risk of skin necrosis and resulted in successful outcome. We present and discuss the case of a cavernous lymphangioma in the parotid gland. (J Clinical Otolaryngol 2002;13:242-246)