1979 Volume 22 Issue 6 Pages 691-694,658
A rare case of mucocele developing in the sphenoid sinus is reported. The patient was a 63-year-old man who complained of right visual disorder and facial numbness for approximately 3 years prior to his admission. There was no history of nose surgery or trauma.
Rhinoscopic examination showed a polypous mass enpacked in the ipsilateral middle nasal meatus. Plain films and tomograms of the paranasal sinuses revealed a round cystic shadow located in the sphenoid sinus and a radiolucency in the right ethmoid and maxillary sinuses.
A clinical diagnosis of mucocele was made. The mucocele was surgically treated through both maxillary and ethmoid to establish an adequate drainage into the nasal cavity. Both maxillary and ethmoid sinuses were filled with cicatricial fibrous tissues, a part of which occluded the ostia of the sphenoid sinus.
Occlusion of the ostium of the sinus by cicatricial fibrous tissues may have been a possible cause of the mucocele in the present case.
The pertinent literature of this condition was briefly reviewed.
