Patterns and prevalence of sinonasal inverted papilloma in Port Harcourt metropolis, Nigeria: Computed tomography findings

Background: Inverted papilloma is a rare and slow-growing benign epithelial neoplasm that has a high tendency of changing into malignant tumor which usually occurs in the sinonasal cavities. This pathology was first described and characterized by Ward and Ringertz, respectively. Inverted papilloma has high capability of invading nearby structures usually from the lateral wall of nasal cavity and often extends into the adjacent maxillary or ethmoidal sinuses. Aim: This study is aimed to evaluate the patterns and prevalence of sinonasal inverted papilloma diagnosed on computed tomography (CT) in Port Harcourt, and the following specific objective was also evaluated: Age and sex distributions of the pathology. Materials and Methods: The craniofacial CT examinations were performed using general electric machines with standard scanning protocols and parameters. A retrospective cross-sectional research design was adopted for this study, and all CT radiological reports of patients who underwent craniofacial CT scan from January 2012 to May 2017 and met the inclusion criteria were selected using data capture sheet. Approval for this study was obtained from the management of the study centers. The obtained data were analyzed using descriptive statistics on SPSS version 20. Results: Of 1572 data evaluated, 6.5% (n = 102) had sinonasal inverted papilloma. Nasal obstruction was the most common symptom, 36.91% (n = 55), and the least was frontal headache, 6.71% (n = 10). Paranasal Sinuses (PNSs) were highly affected, 44.29% (n = 62). 66.7% (n = 68) were male and 33.3% (n = 34) were female. The age group of 31–45 years was highest, 41.18% (n = 42), and 0–15 years was least, 2.94% (n = 3). Conclusion: The prevalence of sinonasal inverted papilloma was low in this study. PNSs were highly affected than nasal cavities. Sinonasal inverted papilloma was common in males than females, and young adults were commonly affected by the pathology. Clinical Significance: Adequate knowledge of the patterns and prevalence of sinonasal inverted papilloma diagnosed on CT in Port Harcourt would be useful information to the ear, nose, and throat surgeons in planning their functional endoscopy sinus surgery and also in managing patients who cannot afford to pay for PNS CT investigations in this locality.