Angiosarcoma of the Nose: A Case Report and Review of the Literature

Abstract

Angiosarcoma is a rare and aggressive type of neoplasm that develops in the inner lining of blood vessels and lymph nodes. It accounts for less than 0.1% of head and neck malignancies. The treatment is based on surgery followed by wide field radiotherapy. Anyhow, the risk of local failure and recurrence as well as distant relapse remains high for this disease. We present in this paper a 55-year-old male patient case, with no significant medical history, who was referred for the evaluation of an erythematous and indurated plaque of 2.5 cm in the bridge of the nose. The physical exam showed no head or neck lymphadenopathy, and no nasal or oral mucosal involvement were noted. Multiple biopsies of the nose were taken, and the diagnosis of the specimens was angiosarcoma. MRI showed only soft tissues involvement and no distant metastasis were found on the CT scans. The patient was subsequently treated with total rhinectomy followed by total nose reconstruction. Thus, angiosarcoma of the nose is an uncommon pathology and it should be rapidly diagnosed. A delay in the diagnosis could result in significant therapeutic challenges. Surgery and postoperative radiotherapy are the two pillars of treatment.