Osteoma of the maxillary sinus]

BACKGROUND: Osteoma of the paranasal sinuses is a rare and benign entity that develops slowly. If they occur, locations within the frontal sinus and ethmoid cells are more frequent, whereas osteomas in the sphenoid or maxillary sinus are very rare. CASE: We report on a 25-year old female patient presenting with a bony mass in the right maxillary sinus. A standard external approach using a modified Caldwell-Luc procedure was successfully employed as endoscopic endonasal surgery was limited by the size of the bony lesion. CONCLUSIONS: Trauma or infection are often suggested as an etiologic factor in the pathogenesis of osteoma. In our case the development of maxillary osteoma was related to dental extraction and postoperative fistula. External standard procedures remain mandatory if endonasal endoscopic surgery fails in the removal of osteoma of the paranasal sinuses.