안면주에 발생된 파라핀종

Paraffinoma of the face

A paraffinoma is the peculiar swiss cheese-like sclerosing granulomatous reaction that can result from an injection of an exogenous paraffin. In the past, liquid paraffin was injected rather frequently in order to restore or camoflage the defect of the body, but because of lacking the enzymes to metabolize interstitial exogenous oils, the body tissues respond with a nonspecific foreign-body reaction. The clincal and histopathologic diagnosis of paraffinoma can by very problematical if the patient does not give an information about previous injections of paraffin. Treatment of paraffinoma is the surgical excision of all affected tissue, and the oral use of antibiotics and steroids can give a temporary remission of symptoms. The patient of this case had a history of paraffin injection on the facial defect due to traffic accident 33 years ago, and we report this case with literature review.