Case Report
Rare extracranial localization of primary intracranial neoplasm
1 Department of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology, Head and Neck Surgery University Medical Center Freiburg, Germany
2 Department of Pathology, University Medical Center Freiburg, Germany
3 Section of Neuroradiology, Neurocenter of the Freiburg University Hospital, Germany
Diagnostic Pathology 2008, 3:14 doi:10.1186/1746-1596-3-14
Published: 16 April 2008Abstract
Meningioma, craniopharyngeoma and glioma are mainly intracranial lesions. Nevertheless, in rare cases these entities may occur solely as extracranial lesions that may present as intranasal/sinusoidal masses, with headaches and nasal obstruction. We present three cases of common intracranial tumors, with purely extracranial extension. The three described cases demonstrate, that preoperative MRI and CT imaging is important for differential diagnosis to exclude intracranial connections of the tumors. A definitive diagnosis requires specialized immunohistochemical examinations. In all cases of intranasal or pharyngeal neoplasm the diagnosis of meningioma, craniopharyngeoma and glioma should be considered as differential diagnosis to optimize the surgical procedure.
