Nasal cavity, paranasal sinuses, nasopharynx
Other nonneoplastic lesions
Glial heterotopia
Author: Nat Pernick, M.D.
Last author update: 1 November 2004
Last staff update: 8 October 2020
Copyright: 2004-2023, PathologyOutlines.com, Inc.
PubMed Search: Glial heterotopia nasal
Table of Contents
Definition / general | Case reports | Treatment | Microscopic (histologic) description | Positive stainsCite this page: Pernick N. Glial heterotopia. PathologyOutlines.com website. https://www.pathologyoutlines.com/topic/nasalglialheterotopia.html. Accessed March 26th, 2023.
Definition / general
- Also called nasal glioma
- Not a true neoplasm but a malformation that cause tumor-like conditions in newborns and older infants; considered a variant of encephalocele (encephalocele is associated with bony defects, glial heterotopia is not)
- Usually present at birth or clinically evident within a few years of birth
- 60% occur in nasal subcutaneous tissue, 30% in nasal cavity, 10% mixed
- 20% have small fibrous or glial attachment to CNS
Case reports
- 2 year old boy with subcutaneous mass on nose (Arch Pathol Lab Med 2000;124:1849)
Treatment
- Excision
Microscopic (histologic) description
- Mature astrocytes, gliosis and variable stromal fibrosis
- Occasional multinucleated giant cells resembling neurons
- Variable gemistocytic or mildly atypical astrocytes
- Usually no neuronal cells
