PRIMITIVE NEUROECTODERMAL TUMOR OF PARANASAL SINUS: A CASE REPORT

INTRODUCTION: Primitive neuroectodermal tumor (PNET) is a neural crest tumor1. It is a rare tumor, usually occurring in children and young adults under 25 years of age. The majority of the cells in the tumor are derived from neuroectoderm, but have not developed and differentiated in the way a normal neuron would, and so the cells appear primitive. Many of these tumors are given a separate niche on the basis of the assumption that these embryonal tumors also could arise from cells already committed to differentiation. Jones and McGill reported 11 of 26 patients with disease in the head and neck2.Most other large published series, however, reveal a paucity of cases in the head and neck region3, 4, 5. Clinical symptoms depend on the site of presentation but invariably include pain and swelling of the surrounding structures due to mass effect.