Value of sonography in the assessment of space-occupying lesions of the anterior nasal fossa

Purpose. This study was conducted to define the gray-scale, color, and powe r Doppler sonographic appearances and spectral analysis patterns of anterio r nasal masses. Methods. Eight patients with anteriorly located nasal masses were referred to our hospital for CT of the paranasal sinuses. Subsequently, they were ex amined with a high-frequency linear-array ultrasound transducer. We perform ed gray-scale sonography and color and power Doppler imaging. Results. Five masses were nasal hemangiomas. The three remaining masses wer e a submucosal glandular cyst, a nasolabial cyst, and tuberculum septi hype rtrophy. Three of the hemangiomas were histopathologically confirmed. Sonog raphy identified the anatomic origin of all 8 lesions. On color and power D oppler imaging, the 5 hemangiomas exhibited intense vascularity that decrea sed with compression. Spectral analysis demonstrated arterial and venous fl ow within the hemangiomas, with resistance indices of 0.60-0.66 and peak sy stolic velocities of 6.4-18.4 cm/second. The other 3 lesions were a vascula r or had vascularity only at the periphery. Conclusions. Anterior nasal fossa tumors can frequently be diagnosed by cli nical examination, but specific sonographic and Doppler patterns can help t o establish the anatomic origin, the local extension, and the correct diagn osis in indeterminate cases, obviating other diagnostic imaging or surgical procedures. (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.