Learning objectives
To make the reader familiar with the salient imaging characteristics of common benign and malignant tumors of paranasal sinus.
To emphasize the imaging modalities,
protocols and sequences necessary for appropriate characterization of these tumors.
To delineate the characteristic histopathological findings mandatory for differentiation of indeterminate tumors on imaging.
Background
Sinusitis and sinonasal polyposis comprise the vast majority of cases with paranasal sinus opacification on routine radiological imaging of head and neck in comparison to sinonasal tumors although they may present quite similarly with nasal blockage,
lacrimation,
and epistaxis.
As a result many of these tumors are advanced at presentation with poor prognostic outcome [1,2] .
Even if imaging is performed in the early stages,
a radiologist inexperienced with sinonasal anatomy and tumour features may easily interpret early signs of a malignant tumor as rhinosinusitis...
Findings and procedure details
We present the imaging features of some of the cases of paranasal sinus tumors from a case series comprising of 35 cases imaged over a period of 4 years in a tertiary centre.
All of them underwent a CT scan of paranasal sinuses while some of them also had additional contrast enhanced CT and MRI for further assessment.
All cases were correlated with histopathology. Of the 35 cases,
20 were benign tumors,
7 were malignant tumors and the rest comprised of antrochoanal polyp (2),
sinonasal...
Conclusion
Sinonasal tumors often mimic sinusitis/ sinonasal polyposis on imaging.
Unusual bony destruction,
dehiscence,
scalloping or sclerosis on CT and altered signal on MRI should alert the radiologist to the presence of a sinonasal tumor.
Although sometimes sinonasal tumors can be differentiated on the basis of imaging features alone histopathological examination is mandatory for definitive diagnosis.
CT and MRI with or without FDG-PET examination thus play an important role in early detection of neoplastic lesions and their staging resulting in improved outcome.
References
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