congenital midline nasal mass: four cases with review of literature

Introduction Congenital midline nasal masses include nasal dermoids, gliomas, encephaloceles. Although rare, these disorders are clinically important because of their potential for connection to the central nervous system. Preoperative knowledge of an intracranial connection is a necessity to allow for neurosurgical consultation and possible planning for craniotomy. This study discusses the clinical presentation of congenital midline nasal mass and the role of imaging modalities like CT scan and MRI in diagnosis and the surgical management. Materials and Methods  This prospective study is carried from March 2014 to March 2016, during which 4 cases presented to the Otorhinolaryngology department. Pre-operative evaluation of the patients included endoscopic evaluation along with haematological investigations, CT Scan and MRI. The masses were removed with nasal endoscopic sinus surgery or by external approaches and neurosurgical intervention. Result The age of the patients ranged from 3 years to 25 years. Three of them were male and one female. There was one case of nasoethmoidal encephalocele and the other three were dermoids (intranasal dermoid cyst, nasal dermoid cyst and nasal dermoid sinus cyst). Conclusion Congenital midline nasal masses are rare. These disorders are clinically important because of their intracranial connection which require proper evaluation with radiological imaging like CT scan and/or MRI before FNAC and any surgical intervention.