Mucocele commonly affects the frontal and ethmoid sinuses, being less common in the maxillary sinuses, but rarely located in the sphenoid sinuses. Sphenoid sinus mucocele comprises 1–2% of all paranasal sinuses mucoceles 1).
Fifty sequential, symptomatic patients were studied. Presenting symptoms included headache or facial pain (88%), rhinorrhea (46%), and nasal congestion (26%). All patients underwent CT imaging, demonstrating bony changes or dehiscences (42%), a mass (24%), or complete opacification of the sphenoid sinus (22%). Eighty percent required surgical intervention. The most frequent diagnoses were as follows: sinusitis (38%), fungal ball (20%), neoplasm (16%), and mucocele (12%). Treatment resulted in clinical or endoscopic improvement or resolution in 87% of the patients.
The presenting symptoms of isolated sphenoid sinus disease can be nonspecific and may result in an inordinate delay in diagnosis. Nasal endoscopy and radiologic imaging are central to making an accurate and timely diagnosis. Medical treatment or minimally invasive surgical techniques can successfully manage the majority of patients with persistent or refractory symptoms 2).
A sphenoid sinus mucocele in a North African patient treated some years before with radiotherapy for a nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) 3).
a 65-year-old woman who presented to their clinic with 1-month history of persistent deep-seated headache. The patient sought medical advice in neurology and ophthalmology clinics before being referred to the ear, nose and throat clinic. CT imaging revealed isolated opacification and expansion of both sphenoid sinuses with bony continuity along the periphery of the sinuses features consistent with mucocele. MRI was needed to fully evaluate the extension of the lesion. The lesion was diagnosed as bilateral sphenoid sinuses mucoceles. Transnasal endoscopic drainage of the sphenoid mucoceles leads to gradual improvement of the symptoms 4).