Vol.98 No.4 contentsPRACTICA OTO-RHINO-LARYNGOLOGICA
Vol. 98 No. 4 April 2005
Hemangiopericytoma of the Parapharyngeal Space
Tsuyoshi Okuni, Tomoko Shintani, Masato Hata, Ryoukichi Imai,
Nobuhiro Konno, Hiroshi Tsubota and Tetsuo Himi
(Sapporo Medical University)
Hemangiopericytoma is a relatively rare mesenchymal vascular tumor, which originates from pericytes that are small, oval cells around capillaries. This tumor can be found throughout the body, but most commonly hemangiopericytoma arises from the lower extremity, pelvis and retroperitoneum. The patient described in this report presented symptoms of snoring and sleep apnea. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) demonstrated a soft tissue mass in the right parapharyngeal space. This tumor was completely removed and the histological appearance of the specimen indicated a diagnosis of hemangiopericytoma.
Key words : hemangiopericytoma, parapharyngeal space, vascular tumor