Exophthalmia associated with paranasal sinus osteoma in a Quarterhorse mare

Department of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA.

An 11-year-old Quarterhorse mare developed a paranasal sinus osteoma that extended into the right orbit and led to ipsilateral exophthalmia. Although the tumor was radiographically evident in the paranasal sinuses, ultrasonography was used to demonstrate extension of the tumor into the retrobulbar space, and endoscopy was used to identify its extension into the nasopharynx. Biopsies were obtained using both fine-needle aspiration and paranasal sinus trephination. Despite numerous antemortem diagnostic tests, only postmortem histologic analysis of the mass afforded the diagnosis of osteoma.