Malignant tumors of the sinonasal cavity represent less than 1% of all cancers, and about
3% of cancers of the upper aerodigestive tract. Majority of malignant tumors of the sinonasal cavity come from the maxillary sinus (50%–70%), followed by nasal cavity (15–30%), ethmoid cavity (10–20%), and rarely the frontal and sphenoid sinuses.
Most sinonasal masses present with similar symptoms of nasal obstruction, epistaxis, nasal discharge, and/or facial pain. Additionally, due to limited anatomic real estate, both benign and malignant lesions can cause compressive effects leading to orbital and intracranial complications as well as possible regional cervical metastases.
The majority of malignant tumors exhibit rapid and high contrast enhancement because
they are highly vascular and have narrow interstitial space, whereas benign tumors almost always show late contrast enhancement. Simple assessments of enhancement patterns on static enhanced MRIs may be limited in terms of differentiating benign and malignant tumors.
AIM:
The aim of this study was to assess the possible additive value of perfusion weighted imaging in evaluation of sinonsasal neoplasms.