Unilateral Sinonasal Masses: Review of Clinical Presentation and Outcome in Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria, Nigeria

BACKGROUND: Unilateral persistent nasal obstruction may indicate the presence of sinonasal lesion, which could be inflammatory or neoplastic. It is a common practice to assume that unilateral nasal mass in adults is either inverted papilloma or a malignant lesion. OBJECTIVES: The objective is to study the pattern of clinical presentation and outcome of treatment of patients managed for unilateral nasal masses at Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Zaria. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The record of patients managed for unilateral nasal masses over 5 years between January 2013 and December 2017 was reviewed. Data obtained for this study included demographic characteristics such as age, sex, occupation, main presenting symptoms, duration of symptoms, histological type, type of treatment given, and current status of patients. The data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Science version 23.0. RESULTS: A total of 38 cases were reviewed for this study and there were 25 (65.8%) males and 13 (34.2%) females with a sex ratio (male: female) of 1.9:1. The mean age was 50.8 years, with the standard deviation of ± 13.7. Rhinorrhea, nasal blockage and the presence of nasal growth were the most common symptoms at presentation seen nearly in all the patients. Inflammatory polyp 16 (42.1%) was the most common histological type observed in this study. The majority of patients with malignant sinonasal masses had well-differentiated squamous cell carcinoma 5 (13.2%). Most of our patients 29 (76.3%) presented to the hospital within 1–3 years of the onset of the symptoms. The majority of our patients 26 (68.4%) did very well and were discharged from the clinic following resolution of their symptoms. Three (7.9%) had recurrent nasal mass. We recorded three cases of mortality from the 38 patients managed. CONCLUSION: Inflammatory polyp was the most common unilateral sinonasal mass followed by inverted papilloma. A thorough clinical evaluation of any patients with prolonged nasal symptoms will go a long way in the early detection of these lesions.