Hibernoma, a brown fat tumour.

The case history of a 41-year-old man with a hibernoma in the scapular area is presented. Hibernomas are rare tumours of brown fat origin. The brown colour is due to the rich vascularity and the high cytochrome content of the metabolic active brown-fat cells. In spite of the angiographic appearance, hibernomas are benign and treatment by local excision is curative. A survey of the literature is given.