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. 2012:13:133-6.
doi: 10.12659/AJCR.883236. Epub 2012 Jul 2.

A tumor that is not a tumor but it sure can kill!

Harpreet Singh Grewal  1 , Neha Subhash Dangaych, Anthony Esposito
Affiliations

A tumor that is not a tumor but it sure can kill!

Harpreet Singh Grewal et al. Am J Case Rep. 2012.

Abstract

Background: Pott's puffy tumor is a life threatening complication of infectious sinusitis which is the osteomyelitis of the frontal bone with associated subperiosteal abscess causing swelling and edema over the forehead and scalp.

Case report: Here we present a case a 38 year old male with a rare infectious complication of untreated or inadequately treated sinusitis called Pott's puffy tumor which was diagnosed due to high clinical suspicion and confirmed with CT imaging and biopsy.

Conclusions: This case highlights the need to recognize and easily prevent this fatal complication of a seemingly benign infection like bacterial sinusitis. Unfortunately, if it does occur, clinicians can avoid missing the diagnosis by upholding a high clinical suspicion in the setting of known risk factors and must look for underlying causes both medical and psychosocial.

Keywords: Pott’s puffy tumor; bacterial sinusitis; complications of bacterial sinusitis.

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