[A case of xanthofibroma of the skull]

The authors describe a case of xanthofibroma of the skull. A 53-year-old female was admitted to our hospital in September, 1991, with subarachnoid hemorrhage due to a ruptured aneurysm of the anterior communicating artery. The roentgenogram of her skull incidentally revealed the presence of a radiolucent (a punched out) lesion of about 20 x 25 mm in the right occipital bone. On computed tomography (CT), the mass was seen to be mainly localized in the diploe, and the outer table of the skull was thinned. On both T1 and T2 weighted magnetic resonance image (MRI), the mass showed a high intensity signal equivalent to that found in adipose tissue. The bony tumor was totally removed. Histology revealed a collection of foamy cells, benign fibrous tissues and so on which led to a diagnosis of xanthofibroma of the skull without hyperlipidemia. Xanthofibroma of the skull is extremely rare. To our knowledge, including our case, only three cases have been reported.