Case Report
Copyright ©2009 The WJG Press and Baishideng. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Jul 14, 2009; 15(26): 3312-3314
Published online Jul 14, 2009. doi: 10.3748/wjg.15.3312
Excision of a large abdominal wall lipoma improved bowel passage in a Proteus syndrome patient
Yoshifumi Nakayama, Shinichi Kusuda, Naoki Nagata, Koji Yamaguchi
Yoshifumi Nakayama, Koji Yamaguchi, Department of Surgery 1, School of Medicine, University of Occupational and Environmental Health, Kita-Kyushu 807-8555, Japan
Shinichi Kusuda, Department of Surgery, Moji Medical Center, Kita-Kyushu 801-8502, Japan
Naoki Nagata, Department of Surgery, Kitakyushu General Hospital, Kita-Kyushu 800-0295, Japan
Author contributions: Nakayama Y, Kusuda S, Nagata N and Yamaguchi K contributed equally to this work; Nakayama Y and Nagata N designed the research; Nakayama Y and Kusuda S performed and analyzed the data; Nakayama Y and Yamaguchi K wrote the paper.
Correspondence to: Yoshifumi Nakayama, MD, PhD, Department of Surgery 1, University of Occupational Environmental Health, 1-1 Iseigaoka, Yahata-nishi-ku, Kita-kyushu 807-8555, Japan. nakayama@med.uoeh-u.ac.jp
Telephone: +81-93-6917441
Fax: +81-93-6032361
Received: March 25, 2009
Revised: June 3, 2009
Accepted: June 10, 2009
Published online: July 14, 2009
Abstract

Proteus syndrome is an extremely rare congenital disorder that produces multifocal overgrowth of tissue. This report presents a surgical case of a large lipoma in the abdominal wall of a patient with Proteus syndrome. She was diagnosed with Proteus syndrome based on certain diagnostic criteria. The neoplasm increased in size gradually, producing hemihypertrophy of her left lower extremity and trunk, and spread to her retroperitoneum and her left abdominal wall. She experienced gradually progressive constipation, nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. Computed tomography (CT) of the abdomen demonstrated a large mass in the subcutaneous adipose tissue of the left lower abdominal wall which measured 12 cm × 8 cm x 6 cm in diameter and encased the left colon. This mass in the abdominal wall was excised. The weight of the excised mass was 1550 g. The histopathological diagnosis of this mass was lipoma. After surgery, the encasement of the left colon was improved, and the patient was able to move her bowels twice per day. The excision of the large lipoma in the abdominal wall contributed to the improved bowel passage in this patient with Proteus syndrome.

Keywords: Proteus syndrome; Lipoma; Bowel obstruction; Abdominal wall; Bowel passage