Pleomorphic adenoma of nasal septum: Case management and literature review

Pleomorphic adenomas are the most common benign tumours of the salivary glands. Pleomorphic adenomas in nasal cavity are extremely rare and are often misdiagnosed, as they have higher myoepithelial cellularity in comparison to myxoid stroma. We present a case of a 45-year-old Nigerian patient with a history of left sided septal swelling slowly growing over 2 years.

The patient had a biopsy in Nigeria. Pathology there suggested a squamous cell carcinoma of the nasal septum and he was referred for wide local excision and radiotherapy. The patient presented in London for a second opinion where he had a thorough clinical, endoscopic and radiological assessment. He later went on to have full macroscopic resection of the septal lesion and subsequent histopathological examination was consistent with pleomorphic adenoma with clear margins.

 Pleomorphic adenomas are rare benign tumours of the nasal septum but should be kept in the differential diagnosis. Review of the literature reveals that optimum treatment for pleomorphic adenoma consists of surgical excision with wide margins to prevent recurrence; the surgical approach used in this patient was end nasal endoscopic resection. We present a further literature review and discussion regarding management.

Author(s): Prabhsimran Kaur

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