Histopathological and Immunohistochemical Features of Nasal and Paranasal Sinus Neoplastic Lesions- A Cross-sectional Study

Introduction: Majority of nasal and paranasal sinus lesions clinically present as polypoidal lesions, complicating the diagnosis for the physician which inturn hampers the patient prognosis and in few cases survival of patient, so histopathology is imperative to arrive at the diagnosis. Carcinoma of the paranasal sinus cavity is rare representing 3-4% of head and neck tumours and less than 1% of all malignancies. Aim: To examine the histopathological patterns of neoplastic nasal and paranasal sinus lesions, to categorise neoplastic lesions into benign and malignant types, to find the relation of these lesions with age and sex and also to find the utility of Immunohistochemistry (IHC) in differentiating morphologically suspicious lesions. Materials and Methods: The present cross-sectional study was carried out between January 2020-January 2021. A total of 22 cases were taken for the study, which were received as nasal and paranasal sinus lesions in histopathology. All the lesions received were processed according to standard protocol and diagnosed histopathologically and confirmed by relevant special stains and immunohistochemical analysis (CD99, CD56 etc.). Results: Out of 22 cases, 16 were benign and six were malignant. The lesions were commonly detected between fourth to sixth decades. Male to female ratio was 1.4:1. The ratio of benign to malignant lesion was 2.67:1. The most common benign lesion encountered was capillary haemangioma (seven cases) and malignant lesion seen was squamous cell carcinoma (three cases), comparable to other similar studies. The IHC was done in malignant lesions for accurate diagnosis. Conclusion: In the present study, the cases are divided into benign and malignant lesions with the help of histopathological examination. Cases showing features of malignancy were further subjected to immunohistochemical examination as to diagnose the cases precisely and thus help in patient treatment and prognosis.