Pitfalls in the radiographic diagnosis of angiofibroma

Radiographic findings previously thought pathognomonic for juvenile nasopharyngeal angiofibroma are anterior bowing of the posterior wall of the maxillary antrum on plain films or tomography, and a dense homogeneous blush on angiography. Two patients presented with nasopharyngeal masses which mimicked angiofibroma radiographically: one mass was a lymphoepithelioma and the other was a fibrous tumor. Constitutional symptoms and atypical physical findings should alert the physician to a diagnosis other than juvenile nasopharyngeal angiofibroma.