Spontaneous nasal septal perforation with antiangiogenic bevacizumab therapy

Abstract

Otolaryngologists should be made aware of a newer cause of nasal septal perforations resulting from the more recent antiangiogenic therapy used to treat malignancies. This case describes a 52-year-old white woman who developed a spontaneous nasal septal perforation after given the antiangiogenic drug, bevacizumab, for metastatic ovarian cancer treatment. Bevacizumab is a recently developed monoclonal antibody against vascular endothelial growth factor receptor used to inhibit angiogenesis. The patient was ultimately treated with a nasal septal button with good symptom relief. This case documents the first report in the otolaryngology literature describing this new etiology for nasal septal perforations.