Intraorbital Cavernous Hemangioma: Rare Cause of Exophthalmos

Abstract

Nasopharyngeal angiofibroma refers to a locally aggressive benign vascular tumor composed of vasogenic and myofibroblastic elements, representing between 0.05% and 0.5% of all head and neck tumors. Here, we report a case of a 21-year-old patient with no particular personal or familial pathological history, who presented with recurrent epistaxis and anterior rhinorrhea and headaches for 1 year. Nasofibroscopy revealed a mass filling the entire left nasal cavity, streaked with blood. A face MRI revealed a highly vascularized and lytic nasopharyngeal tumor infiltrating the deep left lateral facial spaces with the beginning of endocranial infiltration, supplied by the homolateral maxillary artery, initially suggestive of a nasopharyngeal fibroma. Preoperative arteriography showed a voluminous vascular blush at the arterial time to the nasopharyngeal projection with branches arising from the left external and internal carotid arteries and multiple arterial shunts (between the left internal and maxillary carotid arteries), thus contradicting embolization. Early diagnosis is important as it is associated with a high risk of morbidity, but advances in imaging and surgical treatment methods have modified the sites associated with high morbidity risk.