Cavernous hemangioma of the middle turbinate: a case report

Most cavernous hemangiomas present at birth or soon after. Cavernous hemangiomas of the nasal cavity, which are rare, usually do not present until adulthood; their incidence peaks in the fourth decade of life. Most affected patients experience epistaxis or hemoptysis and an enlarging lesion in the nose. Histologically, cavernous hemangiomas appear as closely packed, dilated vascular channels lined with a layer of flattened endothelial cells. We describe the case of a 32-year-old man who was admitted to our clinic with the complaint of a nasal obstruction. On anterior rhinoscopy, he was found to have a hypervascularized and hypertrophied left middle turbinate and septal deviation. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging of the paranasal sinuses demonstrated a well-defined cystic lesion that had arisen within the bony left middle turbinate and caused deviation of the septum to the right. The lesion was excised via endoscopic surgery with general anesthesia. No complications occurred during the postoperative period. Histologic examination identified the tumor as a cavernous hemangioma. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case reported in the English-language literature of a cavernous hemangioma appearing as a cystic mass in the middle turbinate.