Nasal cavity, paranasal sinuses, nasopharynx

Infectious lesions

Rhinosporidiosis



Last author update: 1 November 2004
Last staff update: 23 February 2024 (update in progress)

Copyright: 2004-2024, PathologyOutlines.com, Inc.

PubMed Search: Rhinosporidiosis[TI] nasal[TIAB]

Nat Pernick, M.D.
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Cite this page: Pernick N. Rhinosporidiosis. PathologyOutlines.com website. https://www.pathologyoutlines.com/topic/nasalrhinosporidiosis.html. Accessed March 28th, 2024.
Definition / general
Risk factors
Case reports
Treatment
  • Surgical excision, may recur
  • No effective medical treatment
Gross description
  • Hyperplastic, polypoid, red, granular masses of nasal cavity
  • Yellow pinhead spots represent mature sporangia
  • Superficial mucus is common
Microscopic (histologic) description
  • Large (100 - 450 microns), thick walled sporangia with 1000+ endospores, each 6 - 10 microns, accompanied by a mixed inflammatory infiltrate
  • May not be present in all sections and may need additional sampling for diagnosis
Microscopic (histologic) images

Contributed by Hanni Gulwani, M.B.B.S. (Case #97), Veena Maheshwari, M.D., Kiran Alam, M.D., Anshu Jain, M.D., Alia Albawardi, M.B.B.S. and @DrTravisBrown on Twitter

Various images


28 year old from Nepal with uvular mass; left to right: H&E (4 images), GMS, PAS


Rhinosporidiosis Rhinosporidiosis

Rhinosporidiosis

Positive stains
Differential diagnosis
  • Coccidiodes immitis: smaller spherules (30 - 60 microns), smaller endospores (2 - 5 microns)
  • Myospherulosis: large tissue spaces with saclike structures containing brown spherules that resemble Prototheca but are actually clumped red blood cells, GMS-
  • Often arthroconidia and hyphae
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