Occult renal cell carcinoma manifesting with epistaxis in a woman: a case report

Abstract

General practitioners and ear, nose and throat (ENT) doctors are very often confronted with epistaxis. A small minority of patients with epistaxis show a primary or metastatic nasal mass. Detection of the origin of secondary sinonasal masses requires a high index of suspicion and examination of infraclavicular sites by a multidisciplinary team. Renal cell carcinoma metastases are prone to severe bleeding during any surgical intervention, therefore, preoperative embolization is recommended. Resection or radiotherapy to the sinonasal metastasis of renal origin is justified in order to prevent recurrent nosebleeds.