Laryngotracheal rhinosporidiosis

Abstract

Rhinosporidiosis is a chronic granulomatous disease caused by Rhinosporidium seeberi. It usually affects mucous membranes of the nose, nasopharynx, and ocular conjunctiva. Cutaneous, laryngeal, tracheal, genital, and bony dissemination is rare. Laryngotracheal involvement poses many diagnostic and therapeutic challenges. A 45-year-old South Indian man presented with complaints of a mass in both nostrils for 2 years, associated with progressive hoarseness of voice and difficulty in breathing for 6 months. Rhinosporidial lesions were seen bilaterally in the nasal cavity. Telescopic and fiberoptic laryngoscopic examinations showed reddish, strawberry-like masses with whitish spots on their surface involving the larynx and trachea. Computed tomography of the head and neck revealed soft-tissue mass lesions involving the bilateral nasal cavities and nasopharynx, extending to the oropharynx and involving the larynx and trachea. A preliminary tracheostomy was performed, followed by direct laryngoscopic excision of the laryngeal lesions and rigid-bronchoscopy-guided excision of the tracheal lesions. The patient was prescribed dapsone and advised to take it for 2 years. At 2 years of follow-up, there was no recurrence.