Preoperative embolization of juvenile angiofibromas of the nasopharynx

The juvenile nasopharyngeal angiofibroma is a vascular tumor. Careful and complete removal is challenging because of the brisk bleeding during surgery. The means applied to reduce this blood loss have included preoperative estrogens, ligation of feeding vessels, silicone embolization of feeding vessels, and cryosurgery. We have used preoperative Gelfoam embolization of the internal maxillary artery in seven patients. Our clinical impression of significant reduction in loss of blood was confirmed by comparison with 16 previous patients. The average amount of blood lost in the embolized group was half that of the control group. A study of this type comprises many variables; however, the results do suggest that preoperative embolization of the internal maxillary artery is of advantage in the surgical treatment of juvenile angiofibromas.