Optimum imaging for inverted papilloma.

Inverted papilloma is the most common benign tumour of the nose and paranasal sinuses, and usually arises in the lateral wall of the nasal cavity and the middle meatus. The diagnosis is suggested on computed tomography (CT) when there is a mass continuous from the middle meatus into the adjacent maxillary antrum, through an expanded maxillary ostium. The mass may contain areas of high density or calcification, and there may be sclerosis of the wall of the affected sinus. The main advantage of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is in defining the extent of the tumour, and in differentiating it from adjacent inflammatory tissue, but there are no certain signal intensity or enhancement characteristics to help differentiate inverted papilloma from sinus malignancy. In the differential diagnosis, antro-choanal polyp, malignant sinus tumours and chronic rhinosinusitis and fungal disease need to be excluded. The combination of bone deformity and sclerosis with the typical antro-meatal mass suggests a slow-growing tumour such as inverted papilloma.