title: Pathology of tumours originating in the olfactory cleft.
abstract: PROBLEMS/OBJECTIVE: This study describes the variety of tumours originating in the olfactory cleft which have been treated with endonasal endoscopic surgery.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study is a retrospective review covering a seven-year period (2004-2010) of the medical records of all patients in whom a tumour originating in the olfactory cleft was excised (72 patients: 63 men and 9 women; age: average of 61 years; range, 19 to 90 years).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The most common tumours in the series were adenocarcinoma (43 [60%] patients), inverted papilloma (7 [10%] patients), respiratory epithelial adematoid hamartoma (6 [8%] patients) and olfactory neuroblastoma (5 [7%] patients).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The olfactory cleft can be identified as a new surgical field for endonasal endoscopic surgery. This anatomic region is amenable to endoscopic evaluation and the excision of tumours. Exenteration of the olfactory cleft appears to be a key technique for removing adenocarcinoma and can be extended to exenteration of the olfactory groove in cases with intracranial extension. Partial exenteration of the olfactory cleft would seem to be a suitable way of removing benign tumours like inverted papilloma or respiratory epithelial adematoid hamartoma.
authors.affiliation: ENT Department, CHU, Hôpital Central, Nancy, France.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Boulanger
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Grosjean
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jankowski
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000473:pathology*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004724:Endoscopy / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006222:Hamartoma / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009300:Nasal Septum / Q000473:pathology; D009669:Nose Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D013517:Otorhinolaryngologic Surgical Procedures / Q000379:methods; D018308:Papilloma, Inverted / Q000473:pathology; D020545:Respiratory Mucosa / Q000473:pathology; D012189:Retrospective Studies