A team of surgeons at Indraprastha Apollo led by Dr Noor ul din Malik, Senior Consultant, ENT (Surgery), Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, successfully performed an endoscopic surgery on a 14-year-old boy who had developed a rare tumour (Juvenile Angiofibroma-JA) on his nostrils that was protruding on the external side of his nose. This kind of tumour is extremely rare and even the process of its surgical removal can be life threatening considering its location. The child was admitted to Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, with complaints of a progressively growing tumour on the nostril due to which he was unable to breathe properly.
“This is a rare tumour found only in young boys as it occurs only in adolescent males; male hormones can be attributed to the development of the tumor. In earlier years, external approaches were used for its removal but now endoscopy is the standard treatment. In this case, the endoscopic approach was difficult owing to the location of the tumor as there was no space and the tumour was protruding out of the external nares. We took the challenge and went ahead with an endoscopic approach using a technique called segmentalisation of tumour through which we were able to remove it completely without any external scar and without a preoperative embolisation. The procedure was a success and the patient was discharged within 3 days of the surgery on 28 January 2021.” said Dr Noor ul din Malik.
Majorly reported in young adolescent males, juvenile angiofibroma (JA) is a rare benign, locally aggressive vascular tumour of the nose. The management of this tumour is challenging because any surgical intervention can cause excessive blood loss as this tumour is located at the complex anatomy of the nose base. Out of all head and neck cancers, 0.05% account for angiofibroma.