A 34-year-old man presente wiith progressive anosmia, epistaxis, and intracranial hypertension related to a nasal tumor with intracranial extension. After surgical resection of the lesion, inmunohistochemical and electrical microscopy study of the biopsy material stablished the diagnosis of esthesioneuroblastoma or olfactory neuroblastoma. This is a rare embrionary tumor derived from neuroblasts of the olfactory sensorial system. That portion of the olfactory tract is located at the upper half of the nostrils, above the cribiform plate. Esthesioneuroblastoma shows a bimodal incidence with a first peak in the second decade, and a second and most important peak during the third and fifth decades of live. Individuals from both sexes are similarly affected. Pollipoid mass with epistaxis or nasal obstruction and chronic anosmia are the most common clinical manifestations of this tumor. It is invasive and frequently causes regional and distant metastasis; however, some tumors could stay without recognition until its intracranial growing through the cribiform plate causes neurologic symptoms.
Publicación Oficial de la Sociedad Ecuatoriana de Neurología, de la Liga Ecuatoriana Contra la Epilepsia y de la Sociedad Iberoamericana de Enfermedad Cerebrovascular
