Nasal glioma presenting as capillary haemangioma

We report the case of a 5-month-old female infant with a congenital nasal t umour originally attributed to a capillary haemangioma. Doppler-flow ultras ound imaging revealed a solid mass surrounded by mildly enlarged vessels wh ich had a flow pattern atypical of haemangioma. Histology showed non-malign ant gliomatous cells with low proliferative activity. A diagnosis of nasal glioma was thus established and the patient underwent cranial MRT which exc luded intracranial communication of the nasal glioma. Nasal gliomas arise f rom a skull defect, originating from the defective closure of the anterior neuroporus. They represent encephaloceles which have lost their intracrania l connection. Nasal gliomas usually present shortly after birth as an intra nasal obstruction or, as in our case, as a mostly extranasal tumour. Conclusion Nasal glioma is often misdiagnosed as a capillary haemangioma. I t can be distinguished from the latter by Doppler-flow ultrasonography, Mag netic resonance imaging is required to exclude intracranial communication.