Late diagnosis of a solitary fibrous tumour of the parapharyngeal space in a continuous positive airway pressure-treated patient.
Solitary fibrous tumours of the parapharyngeal space are a very rare finding and have been described less than 10 times in the English literature. The Authors discuss a clinical case of a solitary fibrous tumour in the parapharyngeal space in a 77-year-old male, who had begun treatment for a newly discovered obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome with a continuous positive airway pressure - device one year prior to diagnosis. This rare location of an uncommon lesion often gives rise to difficulty in diagnosis or to misdiagnosis and the Authors, therefore, made a review of the scientific literature and analysed the diagnostic and therapeutic procedures used. The importance of this report lies mainly in two aspects: on the one hand, the discussion concerning the diagnostic and therapeutic procedures and on the other, the need of a thorough evaluation in obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome patients before treating them with a chronic device like the continuous positive airway pressure device.
Head and Neck Department, San Paolo Hospital, University of Milan, Milan, Italy.
C
C
Pipolo
A
A
Maccari
F
F
Messina
L
L
Moneghini
G
G
Felisati
D000368:Aged; D045422:Continuous Positive Airway Pressure; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010614:Pharynx; D020181:Sleep Apnea, Obstructive / Q000150:complications / Q000628:therapy; D054364:Solitary Fibrous Tumors / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D013997:Time Factors