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Rare disease
Case report
Very unusual case of a primary sinonasal germ cell tumour
  1. Katie Ann Sadler1,2,
  2. Catherine Hanna2,3,
  3. Louise Melia4 and
  4. Jeff White3
  1. 1Oncology, Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre, Glasgow, UK
  2. 2University of Glasgow Faculty of Medicine, Glasgow, UK
  3. 3Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre, Glasgow, UK
  4. 4ENT Department, Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, Glasgow, UK
  1. Correspondence to Dr Jeff White; jeffwhite{at}nhs.net

Abstract

Sinonasal malignancies are a very rare diagnosis. We present a unique case of a 32-year-old man who presented with symptoms of worsening sinusitis and periorbital cellulitis. Investigation found a sinonasal malignancy and pathology confirmed this to be a primary germ cell tumour. The patient was managed with chemotherapy, surgery and consolidation radiotherapy and has remained well to date. This case report outlines an unusual presentation and diagnostic challenge for the primary care physician, ear, nose and throat surgeon, pathologist and oncologist with review of the surrounding literature.

  • ear, nose and throat/otolaryngology
  • oncology
  • head and neck cancer
  • pathology

https://doi.org/10.1136/bcr-2019-232288

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    Footnotes

    • Contributors KAS led the development of this case report and did the majority of the write-up. JW was the consultant responsible for the care of the patient discussed in this case and has been heavily involved since diagnosis. He identified this as a potentially interesting case to be written up and has helped extensively with the development of the case report. He was heavily involved in discussions with relevant specialists. JW provided invaluable suggestions to the structure of the report and ensured the care of the patient was the most important part of the process. He gave his approval of the final submitted report after contributing to multiple revisions. CH was one of the senior clinical oncology registrars involved in the planning and delivery of radiotherapy to the patient. She contributed intellectual content, providing critical revisions and specialist information about treatment, as well as choosing and preparing all of the images. Her editorial contribution and efforts have been very much appreciated. LM is the ENT consultant who was involved in the original workup, diagnosis and management of this case. She provided very useful information about the clinical presentation, investigation and diagnosis. LM also highlighted the importance of teamwork and multidisciplinary input in complex medical cases: a take home message of this report. All of the above individuals would be happy to be held accountable for all aspects of the work so that should questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work be raised, they could be appropriately investigated and resolved.

    • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Patient consent for publication Obtained.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.