Sinonasal tumors in adult patients: clinicopathological perspective from Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital

Abstract

Sinonasal tumors are rare tumors of the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses. Demographics of adult patients with sinonasal tumours who presented at the Otorhinolaryngology (ORL) department at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital between July 2013 and July 2016 were reviewed. The spectrum of these sinonasal tumours and the influence of concomitant pathology such as Epstein Barr Virus (EBV) were evaluated. Presenting symptoms of benign and malignant tumors were compared. This record review study evaluated a spectrum of histopathological types of sinonasal tumors by using SNOMED codes to access the histopathology reports at National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) at CHBAH. Patient demographics, presenting signs and symptoms and associated concomitant pathology were reviewed. Lymphoma was the most prevalent tumor at 45% and was followed by invasive poorly differentiated squamous cell carcinoma at 19%. The average age range of patients was 30-39 years. The nasal cavity was found to be the most common site for these tumours in 66% of the cases, followed by the maxillary sinus at 25%. Human Immunodeficiency Virus infection was documented in 45% of the cases and these were mostly associated with malignant tumours. There was a significant association between malignant tumor subtype, particularly lymphoma and EBV. EBV was present in 26% of the cases that were assessed for the virus. Nasal obstruction was the most common presenting symptom. Lymphoma is the most common sinonasal tumour in adult patients at the CHBAH Otolaryngology department. HIV and EBV were found to be important viruses that influenced their development. Squamous cell carcinoma was found to be less common compared to what has been described in the literature, and, perharps HIV has contributed to this shift in the trend