Computed Tomography in Olfactory Neuroblastoma

Abstract

Five cases of histologically confirmed human olfactory neuroblastoma (esthesioneuroblastomas) were studied by computed tomography (CT). The clinical symptoms (unilateral nasal obstruction and recurring epistaxis) and radiological findings (opacity of the paranasal sinuses) are nonspecific. CT shows a contrast enhancing mass lesion and is more useful than conventional tomography in estimating its extension and associated bone destruction, secondary reaction of sinusitis and tumoral calcification. In the 2 cases in which the tumor was associated with exophthalmos, CT demonstrated that the muscular cone acts as a barrier preventing tumor invasion. In cases with intracranial involvement, it appears that the attenuation values can be useful for differentiating between invasion by contiguity (2 cases) vs. metastasis (1 case). Computed tomography is valuable in the follow-up and during and after radiotherapy of the tumor.