Controversies. Nasal septal melanoma

✍ Scribed by Snyderman, Nancy L. ;Suen, James Y. ;Medina, Jesus ;Westbrook, Kent C.

• Book ID: 102236564
• Publisher: Wiley (John Wiley & Sons)
• Year: 1988
• Weight: 294 KB
• Volume: 10
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0148-6403
• DOI: 10.1002/hed.2890100613

✦ Synopsis

Malignant melanoma of the nasal mucous membrane is a rare disorder and is difficult to treat. Five-year survival rates remain less than 30%.

Aggressive surgery has been a mainstay of treatment while the use of adjuvant radiotherapy and chemotherapy has remained controversial.

A 55-year-old white woman complained of left-sided nasal stuffiness of 3 months' duration. This had been accompanied by frequent episodes of epistaxis that responded to pinching her nose. She had been previously treated with antibiotics for presumed sinusitis with no resolution of her symptoms.

Physical examination revealed a brownishblack lesion of the left anterior septum with ulceration of the septa1 cartilage. The mucosa in the right nares appeared free. Submucosal erythema and edema extended to the area of the columella, but the skin appeared free of disease. Several small and mobile lymph nodes were ap- parent in the left buccal area. Pre-and postvas-

Readers are invited to submit particularly difficult cases for consideration to