Sonographic Differentiation Between Angiolipomas and Superficial Lipomas.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to compare the sonographic findings of angio lipomas with those of superficial lipomas.

METHODS: Preoperative sonograms of 26 angiolipomas from 18 patients and 47 superficial lipomas from 43 patients that were confirmed by biopsy were reviewed retrospectively. The echo texture, echogenicity, internal echogenic stranding, vascularity, visualization of lateral and superficial-deep tumor capsules, shape, and tumor length, width, and length-to-width ratio were evaluated and compared between angiolipomas and superficial lipomas.

RESULTS: Angiolipomas frequently appeared as heterogeneous (19 of 26 [73.1%]), hyperechoic (23 of 26 [88.5%]), and ovoid (17 of 26 [65.4%]) masses with lesser visualized lateral tumor capsules (6 of 26 [23.1%]), whereas superficial lipomas appeared as homogeneous (36 of 47 [76.6%]), isoechoic (35 of 47 [74.5%]), and spindle-shaped (23 of 47 [48.9%]) masses with well-visualized lateral capsules (33 of 47 [70.2%]), and the differences were statistically significant (P < .001). Vascularity was seen in 4 angiolipomas (16.7%) and in no superficial lipomas (0%). The mean length and width ± SD of angiolipomas (2.2 ± 1.02 and 0.6 ± 0.27 cm, respectively) were smaller than those of superficial lipomas (4.2 ± 1.52 and 1.1 ± 0.51 cm), with statistical significance (P< .001). The other sonographic findings did not reveal statistically significant differences between the tumor types.

CONCLUSIONS: Sonography might help differentiate angiolipomas from superficial lipomas.