Surgical management of maxillary sinonasal inverted papilloma

The extent of the surgery required when sinonasal inverted papilloma (IP) originates in the maxillary sinus is still the subject of debate. The principal aim of the study was to evaluate the efficacy of exclusive endoscopic removal or when combined with a limited vestibular anterior antrostomy of the maxillary IP.

A retrospective analysis was carried out of 64 patients with IP treated in our university tertiary referral center from 1993-2007. Endoscopic removal of the IP was done for all patients, either exclusively or combined with an open approach. All patients were followed up for more than 1 year and the local control rate has been compared between patients with maxillary IP and others, and with both approaches.

The overall recurrence rate was 14% (9/64), for a mean follow up of 48 months (12-120 months). Twenty-three patients (23/64) had maxillary IP. Ten of them had endoscopic resection alone, 13 had a combined approach (1 with lateral rhinotomy). There were 4 recurrences (17%) three of which had had endoscopic surgery alone. We did not perform a medial maxillectomy in the first instance. There were no cases of epiphora or atrophic rhinitis. conclusion: We showed that the combined method (endoscopic assisted by a minimal vestibular approach) was an efficient and safe method to treat maxillary sinus IP. This approach could preserve the lacrimal duct and the inferior turbinate when these structures were not involved, even when there was a large maxillary sinus extension of the disease.