OSSEOUS LESIONS OF NOSE AND SINUSES: WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO HYPERTROPHIC CHANGES AND TUMOR FORMATIONS

The bones of the nose and sinuses are not uncommonly subjected to hypertrophic changes. These changes are usually considered to be neoplastic and are ordinarily diagnosed and treated as osteoma. In the study of a group of cases that have come under my observation, I found that there is considerable confusion as to the exact meaning of the term "osteoma." To the pathologist it is a term under which he discusses many forms of overgrowth of bone. To the laryngologist it is a definite clinical entity. He considers it a tumor originating in the bones of the nose and sinuses, encroaching on the cavities, and giving rise to symptoms of deformity, displacement, obstruction and pressure. Ewing 1 stated: "Circumscribed overgrowth of bone occurs under such a wide variety of conditions and the distinctions between inflammatory and neoplastic hyperplasia of the tissue are so often obscure that it has never been possible