A tumor that is not a tumor but it sure can kill!

BACKGROUND: Pott’s puffy tumor is a life threatening complication of infectious sinusitis which is the osteomyelitis of the frontal bone with associated subperiosteal abscess causing swelling and edema over the forehead and scalp. CASE REPORT: Here we present a case a 38 year old male with a rare infectious complication of untreated or inadequately treated sinusitis called Pott’s puffy tumor which was diagnosed due to high clinical suspicion and confirmed with CT imaging and biopsy. CONCLUSIONS: This case highlights the need to recognize and easily prevent this fatal complication of a seemingly benign infection like bacterial sinusitis. Unfortunately, if it does occur, clinicians can avoid missing the diagnosis by upholding a high clinical suspicion in the setting of known risk factors and must look for underlying causes both medical and psychosocial.