Rhinolith Arising from Fungus Ball in the Nasal Cavity

Kim, Kun Woo; Mo, Ji Hoon; Chung, Young Jun

Abstract

A rhinolith is a mineralized and calcareous mass that arise secondarily to the complete or partial encrustation of intranasal foreign bodies. The foreign body is usually exogenous in origin. Less commonly, endogenous foreign material can form the nidus of the rhinolith. Only one case of rhinolith originating from fungus ball that acts as the nidus has been reported in the nasal cavity. We recently experienced a case of rhinolith arising from fungus ball in the nasal cavity. A 14-year-old female suffered from left purulent and bloody rhinorrhea. An irregular, hard, and dark-brown pigmented lesion was observed in the left nasal cavity. It was removed by endoscopic surgery and pathologically revealed the rhinolith and confirmed the presence of a coexistent fungal nidus. Therefore, we present this rare case of rhinolith arising from fungus ball and discuss its disease entity.