Turkish Journal of Pathology

Türk Patoloji Dergisi

Turkish Journal of Pathology

Turkish Journal of Pathology

2017, Vol 33, Num, 3     (Pages: 262-267)

Benign Malformative Lesion of the Skull: Hamartoma with Ectopic Elements or Choristoma?

Ece MERAM 1, Hakan KARABAĞLI 2, Christine GLASTONBURY 3, Tarik TİHAN 1, Pınar KARABAĞLI 4

1 Department of Pathology, UCSF, SAN FRANCISCO, USA
2 Department of Neurosurgery, Selçuk University Faculty of Medicine, KONYA, TURKEY
3 Department of Radiology, UCSF, SAN FRANCISCO, USA
4 Department of Pathology, Selçuk University Faculty of Medicine, KONYA, TURKEY

DOI: 10.5146/tjpath.2014.01299
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Hamartoma and choristoma are terms that describe non-neoplastic, mass-forming malformative lesions. Although each lesion has a different composition, they have been used interchangeably in many reports, especially for malformative lesions containing ectopic or heterologous elements. We report a three month-old girl who was brought to the clinic with a mass lesion at the posterior fontanel, composed of predominantly osteo-cartilaginous tissue admixed with skeletal muscle, peripheral nerve tissue, and ganglion. The mass was resected completely. The composition of this benign lesion with ectopic elements was consistent with an osteo-cartilaginous hamartoma. We discuss the biological and clinical aspects such malformative lesions within the skull to highlight the inconsistencies of the nomenclature used in the literature.

Keywords : Hamartoma, Choristoma, Ectopic tissue, Heterotopic tissue, Skull