Abstract
A forty-nine-year-old male was admitted to the ENT ward of Osaka Rosai Hospital because of a swelling of the right zygomatic area. An abnormal shadow and a thin wall of the maxillary sinus were found by X-ray examination.
An exploratory sinusectomy was performed, but no tumor was found. Following the procedure, tumorous swellings appeared in the parietal and right buccal areas.
These swellings were removed and their pathological examinations revealed no malignancy but chronic inflammation consisting of many plasma cells, a few lymphoid cells, neutrophil cells and capillaries with thickened endothelial cells.
The patient was moved to Osaka City University Hospital and a revision of the maxillary sinusectomy was performed. A partial bone defect and a large amount of elastic granulation were found in the maxillary sinus. The histopathological examination revealed chronic granulomatous inflammation, swelling of endothelial cells of capillaries, plasma cells and lymphoid cell infiltration.
These findings together with his past and family history and positive W-R indicated the presence of syphilis of the maxillary sinus.
Anti-syphilitic therapy improved the subjective and objective symptoms.
