Pedunculated cavernous hemangioma originating in the olfactory cleft

Abstract

Sinonasal cavernous hemangioma is a rare condition that usually affects the lateral wall of the nasal cavity. We report the case of a 77-year-old man who presented with severe epistaxis, nasal congestion, and olfactory dysfunction. Endoscopic examination of the nasal cavity revealed the presence of a red-blue tumor that had almost completely filled the nasopharynx. Preoperatively, it was difficult to distinguish this lesion from a juvenile nasopharyngeal angiofibroma. During endoscopic surgery, the tumor was found to originate in the left olfactory cleft, and it had a long peduncle that contained blood vessels. Postoperative histopathologic examination indicated that the mass was a cavernous hemangioma. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case of an olfactory cleft cavernous hemangioma and the first case of olfactory cleft disease associated with a cavernous hemangioma to be reported in the English-language literature.