Muscle and soft tissue: Pathology

A lipoma is a benign neoplasm of fat cells (adipocytes) and the most common soft tissue tumor in adults. The etiology is unknown, but obesity is a predisposing factor; genetics also play a role, with multiple lipomas occurring in various inherited disorders. Lipomas can arise in any site with adipose tissue (including the gastrointestinal tract, chest cavity, retroperitoneum, and glands), but are most common in subcutaneous tissues of the trunk or proximal extremities. The treatment is not necessary for small asymptomatic lipomas. Surgical excision is the treatment if there is a cosmetic, functional, or diagnostic concern.

This article deals with a number of polyneuropathies. It includes the myopathy junction and dystrophinopathies (Duchenne muscular dystrophy and Becker muscular dystrophy), as well as Limb-Girdle muscular dystrophies and channelopathies, mitochondrial, inflammatory, endocrine and drug induced myopathies. It runs through each disease associated with these pathologies, their etiology/pathophysiology, and diagnosis including history, examination and investigation, and the treatment of the diseases where appropriate.

Disorders of neuromuscular origin can be caused by muscular diseases, neuromuscular junction or their neurological supply. Neurological disorders can be in the peripheral nerves, motor cells in the spinal cord, motor tracts in the spinal cord, brain stem nuclei, tracts and cerebral cortex.