Abstract
Mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma is a low-grade extra nodal often gastric condition. MALT lymphoma of the head and neck has been reported in the salivary gland, thyroid, larynx, orbit, and skin. A 76-year-old woman seen for double vision was found in neuro opthalmological examination to have trochlear and oculomoter nerve palsy. Epipharyngeal endoscopy showed a submucosal tumor in the posterior epipharynx wall. Computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) demonstrated a mass lesion of the epipharynx, pterygopalatine fossa, and cavernous sinus. Endoscopic tumor biopsy performed twice for the epipharynx and for the pterygopalatine fossa was pathologically difficult to differentiate from lymphoid tissue and lymphoma hypertrophy. Clonal Southern blot analysis showed clonal rearrangement of the heavy immunoglobulin gene chain, yielding a diagnosis of MALT lymphoma.
