SOLITARY FIBROUS TUMOR OF THE NASAL CAVITY AND PARANASAL SINUSES

We report two solitary fibrous tumors of the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses that were histologically and immunohistochemically virtually identical to solitary fibrous tumors (fibrous mesotheliomas) of the pleura. One tumor arose in a 48-year-old woman and the other in a 45-year-old woman. Both patients presented with nasal symptoms, and both patients are alive without evidence of disease 6 months and 1 year after excision. The tumors had a disorganized or "patternless" arrangement of spindle cells in a collagenous background and prominent vascular channels of varying size. Immunoperoxidase stains on paraffin sections showed staining of the cells for vimentin only; there was no staining for keratin, S-100 protein, desmin, and actin. Both cases presented some degree of diagnostic difficulty and had to be distinguished from other spindle cell tumors of the nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses, such as hemangiopericytoma, angiofibroma, and fibrous histiocytoma.