Abstract
Objective: Juvenile nasopharyngeal angiofibroma is a historically benign, yet locally aggressive vascular tumor that affects exclusively adolescent boys. Its etiology is still considered one of the dangerous head and neck tumors. Early diagnosis is now available by the use of endoscopes and advanced imagining.
Method: This retrospective study included 18 patients operated upon in the ENT Department of Tanta University Hospital through the period from 2002 to 2009. Those patients were diagnosed radiologically by CT scan, MRI, and endonasal endoscopic biopsy.
Results: Two cases were confined to the lateral nasal wall extending into the nasopharynx, 9 cases extended to the sphenoid sinus superiorly and to the pterygopalatine fossa laterally, 4 cases extended laterally to the infratemporal fossa, and 1 case extended intracranially to the middle cranial fossa. The rare sites of extension were one case occupying the right ethmoid sinus completely (this mass eroded the fovea to the anterior cranial fossa) and another case of a recurrent mass extending into the right parapharyngeal space through the sinus of morgagni.
Conclusion: The rare sites of extension of juvenile nasopharyngeal angiofibroma included the anterior cranial fossa through the fovea ethmoidalis. It may also spread through the sinus of morgagni to the parapharyngeal space.
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