American journal of rhinology
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Review Case Reports
Eosinophilic angiocentric fibrosis of the sinonasal tract in a male patient with chronic bowel inflammation.
Eosinophilic angiocentric fibrosis (EAF) is an uncommon inflammatory fibrosing lesion involving the upper respiratory mucosa, occurring mainly in young to middle aged women (female/male ratio = 2:1). The etiology is unknown; however, severalfactors might play a role in the development of EAF. Among them are prior nasal trauma (in most of the reported cases nasal surgery had been performed afew years prior to diagnosis) and inflammatory or autoimmune etiology (suggested by the ratio and the fact that in many of the reported cases a history of nonspecific allergy was found). ⋯ The presence of concomitant rheumatoid arthritis and chronic inflammatory bowel disease in our patient, as well as the fact that nine previously reported cases of EAF had allergic/immune symptoms, raise the possibility that inflammatory or autoimmune factors may have a role in the development of this unusual pathological entity.