Unilateral benign choanal polyp: review of 51 patients

Choanal polyps are a benign pathology arising in the sinusal mucosa and entering the nasal fossa heading for the choana. It is a unilateral condition mainly affecting young people. It must be surgically removed, with exeresis of both the nasal and the sinusal lesions. A retrospective review has been made of 51 patients treated for choanal polyp at our centre. They were diagnosed through physical examination, nasal endoscopy, nasosinusal CT, and histological examination of biopsy from the mass in selected cases. The choanal polyps originated in the maxillary sinus in 46 cases, in the ethmoidal sinus of 5 patients, and only 1 in the sphenoid sinus. Antrochoanal and ethmoidochoanal polyps were simultaneously found in 1 patient. Unilateral nasal obstruction was the main clinical presentation in our series. Nasal discharge, epistaxis, and snoring were other initial clinical findings. Eighty-five per cent (39/46) of antrochoanal polyps (ACP) emerged into the nasal fossa through Giraldés's accessory orifice, and 15% (7/46) through the natural ostium of the sinus. The origin in the maxillary sinus was adequately documented in 18 cases. The endoscopic approach was used in 46 patients. Other options employed were the Caldwell-Luc approach and a combination of limited antrostomy and endoscopic nasal surgery; these were among the first cases seen and therefore the oldest. Two of them relapsed and were treated again with an endoscopic nasosinusal approach. Endoscopic nasosinusal surgery is a safe and effective option and represents the approach of choice for the treatment of this pathology.