Clinicopathological study of non-neoplastic lesions of nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses

An analysis of cases presenting as mass in nasal cavity (NC), paranasal sinuses (PNS), and nasopharynx (NP) was done over a period of 7 years in Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Aligarh. A provisional diagnosis was made after clinical assessment and radiological investigations, but final diagnosis was made after histopathological examination. The incidence of masses in NC, PNS, and NP was 34.3 cases per year, non-neoplastic lesions constituted 60% of these cases and their incidence was 20.7 cases per year. All the cases were carefully examined histopathologically and it was found that the region was affected by a variety of non-neoplastic lesions. Among 240 cases, 145 were non-neoplastic and 95 were neoplastic The lesions in the decreasing order of frequency were - nasal polyp, rhinoscleroma, tuberculosis, fungal infection, fibrous dysplasia, ossifying fibroma, cysts, nasal glioma, and cemento-ossifying fibroma. NP was involved by a range of neoplastic lesions; however, no non-neoplastic lesion was seen in this region.