[The value of endoscopy in the diagnosis of rhinolithiasis: a case report].

Diagnosis of rhinolithiasis may be difficult because of the possibility of varying clinical presentations. Complaints of a 34-year-old male patient had been misdiagnosed as sinusitis and several plain radiographs had missed the event. Endoscopic examination enabled a hard intranasal mass to be seen, resembling a rhinolith. The patient's complaints disappeared after endoscopic removal of the mass. Failure in the diagnosis was attributed to the presence of superimposed adjacent structures on plain films and inadequate exposure of the posteriorly located mass by routine anterior rhinoscopy.