Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a common cancer in Chinese people. The mainstay treatment of NPC is radiotherapy. Brachytherapy is applied in some patients with NPC to improve local control rate; however, it may also leave the patients with complications such as skull base osteoradionecrosis (ORN).
1
The classic symptoms of skull base ORN are crust formation, foul odor, necrotic or exposed bone, and purulent nasal discharge.
2
A nasopharyngeal lith is a calcified mass within the nasopharyngeal cavity, forming as a result of long-term encrustation of desquamated epithelium, clotted blood, and sequestra. The symptomatology of nasopharyngeal lithiasis may mimic that of skull base ORN. Fiberoptic nasopharyngoscopy or MRI study may help in differentiating these two conditions. Herein we report a rare case of nasopharyngeal lith. Nasopharyngeal lith is postulated to result from the sequestrum of the floor of the sphenoid sinus after radiotherapy for NPC.
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