Synchronous sinonasal tumour: double trouble?

Abstract

Schneiderian papilloma is a benign sinonasal tumour, which has three morphological variants: fungiform, inverted and oncocytic. Inverted papilloma, being the most prevalent variant, is three times more common among males in their fifth to seventh decade of life. On the other hand, nasopharyngeal carcinoma is a malignant tumour arising from the nasopharyngeal epithelium. Albeit rare, synchronous sinonasal tumour has been reported and remains a quandary till date, especially when it involves malignant and benign synchronous nasal mass. In this paper, we reported a case of a successfully treated synchronous sinonasal inverted papilloma with nasopharyngeal carcinoma in an elderly male. We would like to highlight the need to investigate suspicious bilateral nasal masses due to the possible coexistence of two different pathologies, as in our case.