An acquired tufted angioma of the nasal cavity

Tufted angiomas are benign vascular tumors that occur mainly in children younger than 5 years, involving the skin with subcutaneous plaques or in a nodular form. We experienced a rare tufted angioma in the nasal cavity. A 35-year-old woman visited our clinic because of frequent epistaxis. A mass was found in the left posterior nasal cavity, adjacent to the middle turbinate, and attached to the nasal septum. The mass was excised using endoscopy, under local anesthesia. The histopathological examination showed a cannon-ball distribution of the vasculature, compatible with a tufted angioma. This is the first tufted angioma in the English literature found in the nasal mucosa, so we report this case with a literature review. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.