Open AccessFrontal Sinus Cholesteatoma
Author(s) -
Rangel Leonardo G.,
Fleming Flavia P.,
Augé Luciana B.,
Chaves Eliza B.,
Almeida Guilherme C. D.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
otolaryngology–head and neck surgery
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.232
H-Index - 121
eISSN - 1097-6817
pISSN - 0194-5998
DOI - 10.1177/0194599812451426a394
Subject(s) - frontal sinus , cholesteatoma , medicine , sinus (botany) , paranasal sinuses , anatomy , mucocele , frontal bone , endoscopy , ethmoidectomy , skull , surgery , maxillary sinus , botany , biology , genus
Objective To describe a case of frontal sinus cholesteatoma and review the characteristics of this pathology. Method Case report: 32‐year‐old white man. First symptoms: frontal pressure, proptosis of left eye with downward displacement (no visual symptoms or eye movement impairment). ENT examination and nasal endoscopy were normal. CT of paranasal sinuses: large mass in the left frontal sinus, with destruction of orbital and cranial blades. Results An endoscopic approach of the frontal sinus was attempted with no success. Nothing could be extracted from the left frontal sinus. Therefore an open approach was attempted, an external approach, using a Lynch incision. By this method we were able to clear out the medial and lateral parts of the left frontal sinus, taking out enough material to be examined by the pathologist. What came out was a cheese‐like debris with a pearly aspect. The final histopathological analysis revealed that the mass was a cholesteatoma of the frontal sinus. Conclusion Cholesteatoma is a common pathology of the middle ear. There are few cases reported in the paranasal sinuses. The cholesteatoma is a benign tumor that can become locally aggressive when it promotes erosion of the bone by pressure and also by the production of proteolytic substances, invading the surrounding structures.