Peripheral intrapulmonary lipoma: a rare lung neoplasm

Lipomas are common benign tumours, but intrathoracic lipomas are rare and peripheral lung lipomas exceptionally rare. Seven cases--all in men--have been described in the world literature, diagnosed after thoracotomy and excision. We report a case of a peripheral intrapulmonary lipoma in a woman presenting as an opacity on a routine chest radiograph. The CT characteristics and the finding of the same lesion on reviewing a barium enema film from 12 years earlier allowed a confident diagnosis, avoiding the need for surgical excision. This is the first reported case of peripheral lung lipoma in a woman and highlights the value of reviewing previous radiographs.