A case report of Extranodal natural killer / T-cell lymphoma presenting as extensive myiasis

Abstract

We described a 56-year-old Indonesian man with one-month history of nasal obstruction and rapidly increasing nasal swelling and two weeks history of severe facial pain with foul smelling discharge, bleeding and noticing live maggots emerging from his nasal and oral cavity. On examination, he appeared cachexic with a markedly swollen, erythematous and deformed external nose. Live maggots, pus and necrotic tissues were found in both nasal cavities, with erosion of upper gingiva and hard palate. Patient was managed initially with tracheostomy under local anaesthesia, followed by removal of around 350 live maggots from the nasal cavities and debridement of necrotic tissues. A midline nasal cavity mass which extended laterally into the nasal cavity was found, along with a large defect over the gingival labial sulcus with necrotic hard palate and a communication between oral and nasal cavities. Biopsies were taken from the nasal mass, gingiva and hard palate. Histopathological results from the biopsies showed diffuse, aggressive infiltrative malignant lymphoid cells with widespread angionecrosis, consistent with features of extranodal NK/T-cell lymphoma. To our knowledge, there is only one other reported case where the diagnosis of ENKTCL was made after patient presented with oro-nasal myiasis. Clinicians should have raised awareness on this atypical presentation so that further investigation and management can be implemented promptly.