A case is reviewed of a giant benign myoepithelioma of the soft palate presenting in an elderly female patient. Due to the large size of the lesion and its mass effect the patient developed dysphagia with subsequent significant weight loss. The clinico-pathological features of this rare tumour are described and the literature reviewed.

A case of primary herpes of the head and neck is presented. The exact source of infection and the precise diagnosis proved difficult to establish, but evidence tended to support a diagnosis of varicella zoster infection as opposed to a herpes simplex infection, though a dual infection was not ruled out.

Herpes simplex has specific clinical features which usually make its distinction from varicella zoster clear cut. In this case we relied heavily on laboratory investigations to improve the accuracy of our diagnosis since the clinical characteristics were blurred.

Unlike varicella zoster there has been little written about herpes simplex infections specifically affecting the ear, face and neck.

A very rare case of a sebaceous carcinoma of the external auditory canal with basal cell differentiation is presented. Fewer than 400 cases affecting any part of the body have so far been reported and of that only seven cases have been known to involve the external auditory canal. The clinical features, pathology and treatment are described and the relevant literature has been reviewed.

A case of melanotic neuroectodermal tumour of infancy is decribed. The pre-operative diagnosis was made on cytological material obtained by fine needle aspiration. The patient was a three-month-old male infant with a rapidly growing maxillary tumour mass that also involved the pterygomaxillary fossae and the floor of the orbit. In addition to the typical clinical presentation, the cytology is also distinctive showing a dual population of small neuroblastic cells and large melanin-containing epithelial cells. Histological, immunohistochemical and electron microscopic examination of the excised mass confirmed the initial diagnosis. The pre-operative distinction of this tumour from other small round cell tumours of infancy (rhabdomyosarcoma, neuroblastoma, melanoma and lymphoma), is essential in order to plan the most complete resection therefore reducing the possibilities of tumour recurrence. This tumour belongs to a field of pathology with which many otolaryngologists may not be familiar.

Schwannoma of the tonsil is an extremely uncommon clinical entity with only one reported case in an adult in the medical literature to date. We report, to our knowledge, the first known case in a child.

A true lipoma is a rare lesion in the oral cavity. A histologically distinct variant is the spindle-cell variety, which is an innocuous lesion that can simulate a myxoid liposarcoma.

We report a case of intra-oral spindle-cell lipoma in a 42-year-old female and have reviewed the literature pertaining to this unusual histopathological entity. A wareness of the condition is essential for both clinicians and pathologists to avoid any misinterpretation of the benign nature of this condition.