Intramuscular Hemangioma of the Masseter in Childhood - A Rare Case.

Most commonly occurring in the trunk and extremities, intramuscular hemangiomas (IMH) may be rare tumors in the head and neck region. There they show predominant involvement of the masseter and trapezius muscles. Due to their nonspecific symptoms, often these tumors are misdiagnosed. The muscle infiltrative growth can lead to confusing them with malignant neoplasms. A case of IMH in a five-year-old girl is presented here. After an initial conservative treatment, the neoplasm was then treated by surgical excision, because of a progressive growth trend and re-occurring functional complaints. In addition to the clinical, diagnostic and histo-pathological findings, treatment of intramuscular hemangiomas with multipleform phleboliths is discussed. There is no recurrence after a one-year follow-up. Keywords: intramuscular hemangioma, masseter muscle, phlebolith, soft tissue neoplasm, head and neck surgery