CLINICAL CASES   

Rivista Italiana di Chirurgia Maxillo-Facciale 2004 April;15(1):41-6

Copyright © 2005 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Ethmoidal-frontal osteoma complicated by intraorbital osteoma. Cases report

Cascone P., Arangio P., Mustazza M. C.

Maxillofacial Surgery, University of Rome “La Sapienza”, Rome, Italy

Osteoma is a common bone tissue benign tumor. Generally it is a slow-growing and encapsulated bony neoplasm which may be commonly asymptomatic, being detected incidentally in patients without symptoms who undergo radiologic examinations as standard radiographs or computerized tomographic scans or 99mTc Polyphosphate Scintiscan for other reasons. The most frequent sites of origin in the craniofacial skeleton are the frontal bone, the ethmoidal region, maxillary expecially in maxillary sinuses and sphenoid (sphenoid sinus) in that order. Symptoms, when present, include spontaneous facial pain localized over the area of the osteoma and frequent headache. Osteomas of the craniofacial skeleton, expecially the ethmoid-frontal located in, are sometimes complicated by mucocele which is often accompanied by sepsis. The authors present in this article 2 cases in which the growth of an ethmoid-frontal osteoma led to the formation of a secondary lesion, an intraorbital mucocele, with different marked mass effect. The early diagnostic evaluation and the correct surgical management of these tumors are also discussed in this paper.