ABSTRACT
Background: Contact endoscopy (CE) was initially described as a method used in the
analysis of uterine and vocal folds histology. The first nasal cavity CE studies achieved
promising results regarding its use for the differentiation between benign and malignant
lesions, considering that biopsy might cause some complications, especially bleeding.
Objective: Describe and compare the findings of CE on inverted papilloma and
nasosinusal squamous cell carcinoma and test the effectiveness of this exam as a
noninvasive method for in vivo differentiation between these tumors. Methods: The
patients included in this study were divided into Group A, whose diagnosis was inverted
papilloma, and Group B, whose diagnosis was squamous cell carcinoma. CE results
were compared amongst themselves. CE images were presented to examiners not
experienced with the method. Results: Twenty-two patients were examined, thirteen in
Group A and nine in Group B. The main relevant differences in CE findings between
those two groups were: corkscrew vessels, presence of mitoses, keratinization and
nuclear pleomorphism in carcinoma, and vacuolated cells in papilloma. The examiners
were capable of defining the diagnosis of these nasal tumors only based on CE images.
Conclusion: CE may be a useful noninvasive exam to be used in the in vivo diagnosis
of inverted papilloma and nasosinusal squamous cell carcinoma, which may enable
better preoperative planning.