title: Nasal cavity epithelioid hemangioendothelioma invading the anterior skull base.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Epithelioid hemangioendothelioma (EHE) is a rare vascular tumor that frequently occurs in soft tissues. Patients suffer from local recurrence and remote metastasis because of its malignant potential. Here, we present a rare case of EHE that originated from nasal cavity and invaded intracranially through the anterior skull base.
  
  
  METHODS
  This is a 27-year-old woman who presented a local physician with intermittent epistaxis and a facial pain around her nose. Preoperative studies demonstrated that the tumor invaded into anterior skull base and the dura matter. Therefore, we performed combined skull base and transnasal surgery, which achieved complete resection of the tumor. Postoperative course of the patient was uneventful. No recurrence or distant metastasis was observed in the patient for 2 years following the radical resection.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  To date, four cases of EHE in the nasal cavity were reported. This is the first case in which EHE demonstrated invasive potentials with intracranial extension. Radical surgical resection plays an important role for better management of invasive paranasal EHE.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan.
authors.forename: Shogo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ogita
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan.
authors.forename: Toshiki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Endo
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazuhiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nomura
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan.
authors.forename: Takenori
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ogawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan.
authors.forename: Mika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan.
authors.forename: Kenjiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Higashi
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan.
authors.forename: Yukio
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Katori
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan.
authors.forename: Teiji
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tominaga
keywords: Anterior skull base; epithelioid hemangioendothelioma; nasal cavity; vascular tumor