Clinical and histopathological correlation of unilateral nasal mass – A retrospective observational study

INTRODUCTION: Nasal obstruction and nasal discharge are the most common symptoms in otorhinolaryngology practice; they may be unilateral or bilateral. Unilateral persistent nasal obstruction may indicate the presence of sinonasal lesion that could be inflammatory or neoplastic. Biopsy and histopathological examination of the nasal mass will give the definitive diagnosis, which was correlated with the clinical diagnosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was conducted retrospectively in a tertiary health care center after collecting the data of patients who underwent biopsy or surgical excision of unilateral nasal mass during 6 years period from January 2015 to December 2020. A total of 208 patients who met the inclusion criteria were included in the present study. These cases were subjected to a detailed history, clinical examination, nasal endoscopy, computed tomography scan, biopsy or excision biopsy, and histopathological examination. The data collected from these cases were compiled, analyzed, and conclusions were drawn. RESULTS: Of these 208 patients, majority (127; 61.1%) had non-neoplastic lesions while 81 (38.9%) had neoplastic lesions based on clinical diagnosis. Among patients with neoplastic lesions, 50 (61.7%) were benign and 31 (38.3%) were malignant. CONCLUSION: Antrochoanal polyp is the most common type of unilateral nasal mass, followed by inflammatory polyp among nonneoplastic lesions and hemangioma and inverted papilloma among neoplastic lesions in this study. Majority of the patients were in the age group of 11‒20 years. Nasal obstruction and rhinorrhea were the most common symptoms in majority of patients.