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Case Reports
. 2013 Aug;4(Suppl 1):S95-7.
doi: 10.4103/0976-3147.116426.

Chordoma of skull base presenting as nasopharyngeal mass

Sant Prakash Kataria  1 , Ashima Batra, Gajender Singh, Sanjay Kumar, Rajeev Sen
Affiliations
Case Reports

Chordoma of skull base presenting as nasopharyngeal mass

Sant Prakash Kataria et al. J Neurosci Rural Pract. 2013 Aug.

Abstract

While the nasopharynx is most commonly regarded by the otolaryngologist as a primary site of neoplastic involvement, it is also an avenue of spread of base-of-the-skull tumors presenting as bulging nasopharyngeal masses. Chordoma is a relatively rare tumor of the skull base and sacrum thought to originate from embryonic remnants of the notochord. Chordomas arising from the skull base/clivus are typically locally aggressive with lytic bone destruction. The optimal treatment may be photon/proton radiotherapy alone or combined with a gross total resection, when feasible. We report a case of intracranial chordoma presenting as nasopharyngeal mass.

Keywords: Chordoma; nasopharyngeal mass; skull base.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
(a and b) CT scan showing erosion of base of skull with extracranial extension
Figure 2
Figure 2
Photomicrograph showing round to oval cells with central nuclei and vacuolated cytoplasm (physaliphorous cells) (a) H and E (×40). These cells stained positive with (b) PAS (×40) and (c) monoclonal staining for EMA (×100)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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