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Frontal Sinus Mucopyocele Presenting as a Subcutaneous Forehead Mass
Ryan A Carmichael1, David R Kang2
1Resident, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Texas A&M University Baylor College of Dentistry; and Division Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Department of Surgery, Baylor University Medical Center, Dallas, TX.
Abstract:
Mucoceles of the paranasal sinuses are benign, chronic, expanding lesions that characteristically develop because of obstruction of the sinus ostium. The frontal sinus is the most common sinus to be affected by a mucocele, which usually results from trauma or inflammatory processes. Patients with these lesions frequently present with visual complaints of decreased visual acuity, visual field abnormalities, proptosis, ptosis, displacement of the globe, or restricted ocular movements secondary to erosion through the thin bone of the superior orbit and compression on the globe. Often, intracranial extension of frontal sinus mucoceles is also present from erosion through the posterior table of the frontal sinus. Very rarely, they will present as a subcutaneous forehead mass or swelling. To the best of our knowledge, only 5 cases of a frontal sinus mucocele presenting as a forehead subcutaneous mass has been previously reported. We report the case of an 80-year-old woman with a history of remote forehead trauma who presented with a frontal sinus mucopyocele manifesting as a subcutaneous forehead mass eroding through the skin.
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