Adenoid cystic carcinoma of the nasopharynx with intracranial metastasis--a case report

Adenoid cystic carcinoma of the nasopharynx is an occurrence with only 44 previously reported cases in the English literature. We report herein one additional case. This 62-year-old female patient suffered from right facial numbness for 1 year. A CT scan of the brain showed tumor shadow in right C-P angle. Subsequently, the patient underwent a temporal craniotomy. A mass was noted in medial temporal fossa, encasing the trigeminal nerve. The tumor was totally removed and pathologic examination showed a picture of metastatic adenoid cystic carcinoma. High resolution CT scan of nasopharynx after surgery revealed bulging of fossa of Rosenmüller, although no gross abnormality was found in the mirror examination of nasopharynx. Thus, nasopharyngeal biopsy was done resulting in a diagnosis of adenoid cystic carcinoma which was considered to be the primary site of origin. The patient received radiotherapy and she was followed up in our clinic.