RESUMEN
INTRODUCTION: Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is considered the most common malignancy in Caucasians. It constituted about 80% of all nonmelanoma skin tumors and, despite its high prevalence, is an extremely rare occurrence of metastases, with incidence rates varying from 0.0028% to 0.55%. CASE REPORT: A 58-year-old male patient with BCC on the left nasolabial sulcus for 17 years, reporting 3 previous excisions, evolved with local recurrence. A new procedure was performed, and anatomopathological study confirmed sclerosing BCC. Seven months later, he presented with a mass in the left submandibular region. Combined positron-emission tomography and computed tomography (PET-CT) showed cervical hypercaptation in the left cervical level I and vertebral body of L5. Excision of the cervical lesion was performed with diagnosis of sclerosing BCC compromising the submandibular gland. Biopsy of the lumbar lesion was found to be compatible with bone metastasis. CONCLUSION: BCC represents a very common entity, and the presence of metastasis, although infrequent, must be proposed because of the greater morbidity and mortality of this complication. This case shows the importance of early diagnosis and intervention in BCC as a way to avoid unfavorable outcomes.
RESUMEN
Introduction. A range of traumatic, vascular, inflammatory, infectious, and neoplastic processes can affect the orbit and its structures. In the area of otolaryngology, the rhino-orbital-cerebral involvement of invasive fungal rhinosinusitis can affect the orbit, which may look like initially a rhinosinusitis or even mimic malignancy. Case Presentation. Female patient, 32 years old, with headache and ocular proptosis. She was using prednisone in immunosuppressive doses for a year and had breast cancer treated three years earlier. The initial CT scan showed opacification of the sphenoid and ethmoid sinuses, left intraorbital involvement and contrast impregnation in the cavernous sinus. The biopsy resulted positive for invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast. Discussion. The initial CT scan of our patient showed both signs of early changes of invasive fungal rhinosinusitis (IFR) and possible metastatic involvement. The intracranial extension and ocular involvement are usually the most common signs of IFR (first hypothesis). Among metastases at the orbit and the eye, breast and lung carcinomas are the most frequent. Conclusion. Although several studies on the differential diagnosis of orbital lesions exist, especially when it concerns the involvement of the nasal cavity, the diagnosis by imaging is still a challenge.