Phaeohyphomycosis masquerading as a palatal neoplasm in a patient who is immunocompetent

Abstract

A female patient presented with facial pain, discharge and headache. She had undergone excision of a palatal swelling 2 weeks previously, following which she had developed an oroantral fistula with necrosis of the palate. Imaging studies were suggestive of chronic sinusitis. A biopsy from the maxillary antrum revealed phaeohy phomycosis, a group of fungal infections caused by saprophytic fungi. The patient was treated with antifungal treatment and had a complete response. Phaeohy phomycosis is of rare occurrence in the paranasal sinus and in patients who are immunocompetant. There are only eight previous reports of this occurrence in the literature worldwide.