Epistaxis caused by nasal septum angioleiomyoma

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Angioleiomyoma is an uncommon, benign tumour originating from vascular smooth muscle. Occurrence in the nasal cavity, especially the nasal septum, is rare with only 16 cases of nasal septal angioleiomyoma reported thus far. We present a new case of nasal septal angioleiomyoma. CASE PRESENTATION: 52-year-old female presented with a three-week history of persistent epistaxis and nasal obstruction. Physical examination revealed a right sided nasal mass originating from the septum. The tumour was endoscopically excised and sent for pathological evaluation which revealed the diagnosis of angioleiomyoma. The patient was followed for six months postoperati- vely and showed no evidence of lesion recurrence. CONCLUSIONS: Because nasal cavity angioleiomyoma recurrence has been reported due to incomplete tumour resection, wide marginal excision is necessary for successful treatment. There have been no cases of malignant transformation of nasal angiolei- omyomas; however, malignant transformation at other sites has been reported. For these reasons, it is important to adequately biopsy and remove angioleiomyoma lesions.