Publication:

Rhinolith causing unilateral chronic rhinosinusitis: a case report

Rhinolith or nasal stone is formed by mineralization within nasal cavity. They are calcareous concretions that are formed by the deposition of salts on an intranasal foreign body. It is an uncommon disease that may present asymptomatically or cause symptoms like nasal obstruction, consecutive sinusitis with or without purulent rhinitis, post nasal discharge, epistaxis, anosmia, nasal malodour and headache. They are usually diagnosed incidentally on radiographic examinations or depending on the symptoms. In this paper we report a 28-year-old woman admitted in the ENT department of GGS Medical College and Hospital, Faridkot with a calcified mass in the right nasal cavity causing long standing unilateral nasal obstruction for 3 years, rhinorrhoea (usually malodourous foetid), post nasal discharge and headache for 1 year. The calcified mass was thought to contain the air cell and removed by endonasal approach. The aim of this study is to report a case of rhinolith with chronic maxillary sinusitis along with a review of literature.