Renal cell carcinoma metastases to the maxillary sinus

Metastasis of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) to the head and neck region is rare. We report the case of a 65-year-old man with history of RCC, presented 7 years after nephrectomy, adrenalectomy and lung metastasectomy for his primary tumour, with symptoms of nasal obstruction, postnasal drip, productive cough and pressure sensation in the left maxillary sinus. CT revealed a unilateral, irregular opacification in the left maxillary sinus with bony erosion of the infraorbital canal wall. A yellow cystic lesion was completely removed from the maxillary sinus during functional endoscopic sinus surgery and histopathological analysis confirmed the diagnosis of a metastatic RCC. Patient continued to be managed with his pre-existing treatment for advanced RCC.

BMJ case reports. 2017 Oct 20*** epublish ***

Eugene Hung Chih Wong, Nora Tetter, Katharina Glatz, Yves Brand

Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland., Institute of Pathology, Universitatsspital Basel, Basel, Switzerland.