Cholesterol granuloma of the maxillary antrum

The cholesterol granuloma is a particular form of granulation tissue developing as part of a variety of tissue reactions, Cholesterol granuloma is not related to cholesteatoma which may be regarded as an epidermoid cyst of the middle ear or temporal bone. Cholesterol granulomas are rarely associated with such cases (Friedmann, 1976; Gherini et al., 1985). Microscopically, the cholesterol granuloma consists of dense masses of cholesterol crystals which appear as clefts. They are surrounded by foreign body giant cells, foam cells, plasma cells and lymphocytes. There is frequently some fresh blood and some blood pigment (Wilhelm, 1977; Beales, 1979; Gibb, 1979). It seems probable that inflammation and prolonged obstruction of a bony cavity that is normally aerated, are the main ways in which cholesterol is concentrated in the paranasal sinuses. It could be expected to be relatively frequent in the maxillary and frontal sinus, but only a few cases have been reported in the literature and only nine cases affecting the maxillary sinus have been published over the last 22 years (Milton and Bickerton, 1986). We have recently found a cholesterol granuloma arising in the maxillary antrum.