Long-term results of endonasal sinus surgery in sinonasal papillomas.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the value of endonasal sinus surgery in the management of sinonasal papillomas.

STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective study including 43 patients operated on for sinonasal papilloma in a long-term follow-up.

METHODS: In 26 cases (60%) an endonasal approach, in eight cases (19%) an external approach, and in four cases (9%) a combined procedure was performed to remove these tumors. Five septal lesions (12%) were resected under direct vision. The original sections and charts of all patients were reviewed to assess clinical data. Follow-up information was available for 42 of our patients (98%) with a mean follow-up of 62 months.

RESULTS: Histologic examination revealed 34 cases of inverted papilloma (79%), five cases of exophytic papilloma (12%), and four cases of columnar cell papilloma (9%). Malignancy occurred in 4 of 43 patients (9%), and recurrences developed in 8 of 42 patients (19%). Two of these recurrences happened after endoscopic sinus surgery (two inverted papillomas), three after lateral rhinotomy (three inverted papillomas), one after a combined procedure (one inverted papilloma), and two after simple resection (two exophytic papilloma).

CONCLUSIONS: In keeping with our experience, the endonasal endoscopic approach, often in combination with a medial maxillectomy, is favored for the treatment of sinonasal papilloma because of a lower recurrence rate and a better cosmetic result. In some larger tumors and lesions in difficult locations, better visualization can be obtained by a combined external and endonasal approach.