Intraosseous cavernous hemangioma of the middle turbinate

Abstract

Hemangiomas mostly arise from the soft tissues, and intraosseous hemangiomas are uncommon. They usually occur in the vertebra and skull bones, and intraosseous hemangioma of the nasal cavity is exceedingly rare. We describe a 56-year-old woman who was referred to our hospital with a tumor in her right nasal cavity, without subjective symptoms such as epistaxis. The tumor was located at the front end of the right middle turbinate. Enhanced computed tomography demonstrated a 3 cm×2cm expansive bony tumor replacing the bottom of the right middle turbinate with some partial enhancement effects. The characteristic honeycomb appearance was observed. The tumor and right middle turbinate were excised en bloc by the endoscopic endonasal approach. No complications or severe bleeding occurred during the peri-operative period. Histological examination showed endothelium-lined blood-filled vascular spaces within the bony trabeculae, which suggested the typical pattern of intraosseous cavernous hemangioma. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case report of intraosseous cavernous hemangioma of the middle turbinate in the English literature.