[Improved diagnosis of laryngeal lipoma by computerized tomography]

Isolated lipomas of the larynx are rare. This condition can be difficult to differentiate from other benign lesions such as retention cysts, or laryngocoeles. However, the CT scan achieves a considerable improvement in the pre-operative diagnosis. Fat tissue shows a typical uniform low attenuation value on the CT scan and is the only soft tissue with a density less than water (zero Hounsfield units) that can be imaged. Therefore, CT not only reveals the extent of the tumor, but also establishes the lipomatous nature of the tumor with a high degree of probability. We report one case of an intrinsic laryngeal lipoma.