Nasopharyngeal carcinoma presenting as muscular atrophy – A rare case report and role of oral physician

• Main Authors: Ravinder Singh, Amit Aggarwal, Deepak Gupta, Samita Singal
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications 2019-01-01
• Series: Journal of Indian Academy of Oral Medicine and Radiology
• Subjects: imaging; muscular atrophy; nasopharyngeal carcinoma; oral physician
• Online Access: http://www.jiaomr.in/article.asp?issn=0972-1363;year=2019;volume=31;issue=4;spage=382;epage=385;aulast=Singh

The presenting features of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) are varied and very few cases present with symptoms unless advanced stages of NPC are present. The disease is one of the most baffling, difficult to diagnose, and abjectly understood entities because of the location of the involved area. The role of oral physician is difficult to specify in this disease except that sometimes patients report to them for facial symptoms. We are presenting a rare case in which the facial muscles were atrophied on one side with mild facial pain which on advanced radiological imaging and histopathology turned out to be nasopharyngeal carcinoma. The role of oral physician becomes critical in diagnosing cases of nasopharyngeal carcinoma which present with no symptoms or few symptoms related to the disease.