Juvenile angiolipoma in the subtemporal region, zygomatic, and pterygomaxillary fossa treated by microwave ablation – A case study and literature review

BACKGROUND: Angiolipomas are benign mesenchymal tumors that infrequently affect the head-and-neck region and can appear with infiltrating and non-infiltrating forms. Surgical excision is the treatment of choice; however, there are other alternatives to manage this condition whose consideration is quite useful to evaluate per each particular case. CASE DESCRIPTION: An 11-year-old girl was diagnosed with non-infiltrating angiolipoma in the subtemporal region, the zygomatic, and pterygomaxillary fossa; she had a history of having undergone surgery on two previous occasions with a failed resection attempt due to the high vascularization of the injury and significant transoperative bleeding. The condition was managed with minimally invasive techniques through microwave ablation, requiring two sessions, achieving very satisfactory results both esthetically and in the final size of the lesion. CONCLUSION: The microwave ablation technique may turn out to be a very useful tool for the management of lesions with high vascularization such as angiolipoma. This technique offers a new possibility for initial management, both independent of and complementary to other management techniques for other lesions at the base of the skull and/or facial massif regions.