Infected Concha Bullosa with Fungus

Concha bullosa is the most common variation of the middle turbinate of the paranasal sinuses. When it causes nasal obstruction, osteomeatal unit dysfunction, or rarely chronic infection, surgery is required.

We present a fungal infection of concha bullosa, which is a rare indication for surgery of the concha bullosa. A 59-year-old female patient presented with hemifacial pain on the right side, which had lasted for 2 months. There were no pathological findings in her endoscopic nasal examination. Advanced examination by paranasal computed tomography (CT) revealed bilateral concha bullosa variation and soft tissue density in the right concha bullosa. As the biopsy taken from concha bullosa demonstrated fungal hyphae, endoscopic surgical treatment was performed.

We stress the importance of the CT in hemifacial pain by this rare case report, in which endoscopic nasal examination was normal. Fungal infection in the concha bullosa is rare, and infected concha bullosa is a pathology to be considered in the differential diagnosis in patients with complaints of hemicranial headache.