Rhinoscleroma presenting as a nasal-palatal mass with airway obstruction.

We report a case of a 45-year-old male with severe rhinoscleroma. The patient presented to the emergency room with dyspnea from a long-standing nasal-palatal mass. A tracheostomy was required for airway control. While dyspnea in the presence of an upper airway mass is typical of malignancy, consideration of non-oncological etiologies is important. We review the epidemiology, pathology, diagnosis, and treatment of rhinoscleroma.

Ectopic nasopharyngeal pituitary adenoma resected with endoscopic technique.

We describe the case of an 80-year-old man with diabetes who presented with nonspecific dizziness. He was found on magnetic resonance imaging to have a 3.2-cm mass within the posterior and central aspect of the nasopharynx. Nasal endoscopy showed that the mass, which arose from the posterior edge of the nasal septum and was attached to the superior nasopharynx, was narrowing the patient's airway. Although initially the mass was suspected to be a minor salivary gland tumor, histopathologic analysis led to a diagnosis of pituitary adenoma. The ectopic tumor was removed via transnasal en bloc resection with partial adjacent septal resection. Final pathology confirmed the diagnosis. The patient had an uneventful recovery and no sequellae at 2-year follow-up.

Brachial artery occlusion secondary to hypereosinophilic syndrome.

Hypereosinophilic syndrome (HES) is characterized by an overproduction of eosinophils that leads to organ damage. Although most cases of HES frequently affect the lungs, heart, and gastrointestinal tract, there are a few reported cases of peripheral vascular involvement. We report a case of a patient with a history of colonic HES who presented with idiopathic occlusion of the brachial artery. A 28-year-old woman with a recent history of eosinophilic colitis presented with a several-week history of left hand pain, pallor, and paresthesias. Her hand was cool, without palpable pulses. Her eosinophilia count was 38%. An arteriogram documented a left brachial artery occlusion and diffuse left arm vasospasm. A brachial-to-brachial bypass was performed. Postoperatively, there was extensive vasospasm of her distal upper extremity arteries, which was treated with calcium-channel blockers and steroids. Her symptoms resolved and she has been asymptomatic for 9 months. The segment of occluded artery was found to contain many eosinophils on histologic examination. HES of the arterial system is an exceedingly rare cause of occlusion. Our patient presented with eosinophilia, arterial vasospasm with subsequent occlusion, and the presence of eosinophilic infiltration on the pathologic specimen. These data, combined with the patient's previous history, demonstrate that the patient's occlusion may have been secondary to HES.