Bilateral multiple spindle cell lipomas of the tongue

Spindle cell lipoma (SCL) typically occurs in elderly men as a solitary lesion in the posterior neck and back, but less commonly also involves the oral cavity. Here, we describe a rare case of bilateral multiple SCLs of the tongue. The patient was a 72-year-old Japanese man with multiple painless soft nodules in the bilateral margins of the tongue. The patient was not obese, and had used alcohol moderately for more than 40 years. A clinical diagnosis of multiple tongue lipomas was made. The tumors were resected surgically, and they exhibited the histopathological features of SCL, composed of mature fat cells, collagen-forming CD34-positive spindle cells, and sparse mast cells. This suggests that differential diagnosis of intraoral multiple lipomatous nodules should include not only lipomatosis but also multiple SCLs, notwithstanding the rare incidence of the latter.