A hamartoma-like mass on the palate? A possible discussion regarding the components of a pigmented naevus and hyperplastic salivary gland.

An extremely rare mass lesion arising on the hard palate is presented. The patient was a 49-year-old Japanese male. He had a painless, semi-globular, smooth-surfaced and partially pigmented mass located on the left hard palate with no evidence of growth for approximately 20 years. The resected specimen included hyperplastic salivary gland tissue, nerve fibres and vessels surrounded by adipose tissue. All constituent tissues showed excessive growth for this location. Also spiralling nests of naevus cells representing inactive intramucosal naevus were included. We consider the whole lesion to be a hamartoma.