Case Report

Paraganglioma Presenting as a Nasal Septal Mass: Case Report and Literature Review

Table 1

Review of reported cases of sinonasal paragangliomas.

CaseAuthorYearSexAgeLocationBiological behaviorTherapyFollow-up

1Harkins [9]1957F52Ethmoid sinusBenignExc, RT, lig ECANED at 1 year
2Moran [10]1962F89Nasal cavityBenignExc, ligation of external carotid arteryNED at 2 years
3Lack [3]1976F50High nasal vaultBenign (local recurrence x3)Exc, ligation of external carotid arteryNED at 11 years following final exc
4F50Middle turbinateBenignExcNo f/u
5M8Middle turbinateBenignExcNED at 7 years
6Gosavi [11]1978M65Middle turbinateBenignExc, RT (incomplete cycle)NED at 2 years
7Apple [12]1982F50Ethmoid, sphenoid, and maxillary sinusesBenign; ectopic ACTH productionExc, RT, hormonal pharmacotherapyNED at 6 years
8Koegel [13]1982F71Maxillary and sphenoid sinusesMalignant (extension into temporal lobe); catecholamine secretionRTNo follow-up available
9Himelfarb [14]1985M41Middle turbinateBenignExcNED at 1 year
10Straehler [15]1985M42Maxillary sinusBenignExcNo follow-up available
11Ueda [16]1985F31Maxillary and ethmoid sinusesBenignExcNED at 2.5 years
12Watson [17]1988M56Inferior turbinateBenignExc, RTNED at 3 years
13Branham [18]1989F25Maxillary and ethmoid sinusesMalignant (brain metastasis)Exc, RT, CTDOD at 3 years
14Kuhn [19]1989M62Superior nasal cavity, ethmoid sinusBenignExcNED at 1 year
15Shimoda [20]1989M58Ethmoid sinus and bilateral frontal fossaMalignant (cervical lymph nodes metastasis)Exc, RTNED at 2 years
16Talbot [21]1990F17Maxillary sinusBenignEmbolization of internal maxillary artery, excNED at 3 months
17Nguyen [22]1995F32Ethmoid sinusMalignant (bone metastasis)Exc, RTDOD at 15 years
18Biswas [23]1999F45Middle turbinateBenignExcNED at 1 month
19Sharma [24]1999M33Frontal sinus (primary); orbit, optic nerve, cavernous sinus, maxillary and ethmoid sinuses (recurrent)Malignant (recurrence, intracranial invasion)CT, RT, exc; vessel embolization, exc 8 months later for recurrenceDOD at 19 months
20Welkoborsky [25]2000F54Nasal cavityBenignExcNED at 3 years
21F56Ethmoid sinusMalignant (brain metastasis)Exc, RTDOD at 28 months
22M57Ethmoid sinusBenignExc, RTNED at 2 years
23Scott [26]2001M24Nasal cavity, ethmoid sinusBenignExcNED at 15 months
24Lecuna [27]2002F72Ethmoid sinus (primary); maxillary sinus (recurrent)Malignant (recurrence, submandibular lymph nodes metastasis)ExcNo follow-up available
25Ketabchi [28]2003F72Nasal cavityBenignExcNED at 8 months
26Mouadeb [29]2003M72Ethmoid sinusBenignExcNED at 4 years
27Lieberum [30]2003M64Frontal and ethmoid sinusesBenign; ectopic ACTH productionExcNED at 2 years
28Askar [31]2003M47Middle turbinateBenignExcNED at 2 years
29Rocha [32]2005M45Nasal cavityBenignExcNED at 5 months
30Liess [33]2007F64Sphenoid sinus, sella, cavernous sinusBenignPartial exc, RTResidual tumor stable at 2 years
31Morales [7]2007F41Sphenoid and ethmoid sinusesBenignNo information availableNo follow-up available
32Jin [34]2008F23Superior turbinateMalignant (questionable transformation simulating Ewing's sarcoma/primitive neuroectodermal tumor)ExcNED at 3 years
33Fasunla [35]2008F39Lateral nasal wallBenignExcNED at 1 year
34Kisser [6]2012F36Maxillary sinusBenignExcNED at 1 year
35Zainine [36]2012F43Middle turbinateBenignExcNED at 2 years
36Papaspyrou [4]2013F33Nasal cavityBenignExcNED at 15 years
37M64Ethmoid sinuses, anterior skull base, frontal lobe dura (primary); ethmoid, sphenoid, cavernous sinus, orbit (recurrent)Malignant (recurrent, intradural metastases)2 exc, RT, CTDOD at 60 months
38F56Ethmoid sinusMalignant (brain metastasis)Exc, RTDOD at 28 months
39F80Nasal cavity, maxilloethmoidal angle, maxillary, ethmoid, and sphenoid sinuses (primary); nasal cavity, anterior skull base, frontal lobe (recurrent)Malignant (recurrent, intracranial invasion)ExcDNOD 17 months after 2nd surgery
40M57Ethmoid sinusBenignExcNED at 2 years
41F54Nasal cavityBenignExcNED at 3 years
42Granato [5]2013F61Nasal cavityBenignExcNED at 2 years
43Michel [37]2013M47Maxillary sinusMalignant (cervical lymph node metastasis)Exc, RTNED at 1 year
44Amiraraghi [38]2013M29Cribriform plate and fovea ethmoidalis presenting as nasal polypsBenignExcNED at 3 years
45Arora [39]2014F40Lateral nasal wallBenignExcNED at 2 years
46Yamaguchi [40]2015F66Ethmoid sinusBenignExcNED at 1 year
47Aydin [41]2015F32Nasal cavity, ethmoid sinusBenign (local recurrence x2)ExcNED 5 years after final exc
48Srivastava [8]2016M60Anterior nasal septumBenignExcNED at 18 months

RT, radiation therapy; CT, chemotherapy; Exc, surgical excision; NED, no evidence of disease; DOD, died of disease.