Radiographics. 2006 Jan-Feb;26(1):157-71.
Causes of facial swelling in pediatric patients:
correlation of clinical and radiologic findings.
Khanna G, Sato Y, Smith RJ, Bauman NM, Nerad J.
Department of Radiology, University of Iowa College of Medicine, 200
Hawkins Dr, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA. geetika-khanna@uiowa.edu
Facial swelling is a common clinical problem in pediatric patients. The
causes of swelling are diverse, and knowledge of the typical clinical
and imaging manifestations and the most common sites of occurrence of
these conditions is needed to formulate a differential diagnosis. The
general clinical manifestations may be classified into the following
four groups: (a) acute swelling with inflammation, (b) nonprogressive
swelling, (c) slowly progressive swelling, and (d) rapidly progressive
swelling. Conditions that may account for acute swelling accompanied by
inflammation include lymphadenitis, sinusitis, odontogenic infection,
and abscess. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography is the modality of
choice for detection of abscesses requiring surgical drainage.
Nonprogressive midfacial swelling is suggestive of a congenital anomaly
(eg, a cephalocele, nasal glioma, or nasal dermoid or epidermoid cyst).
Slowly progressive swelling may indicate the presence of a
neurofibroma, hemangioma, lymphangioma, vascular malformation, or
pseudocyst, or of fibrous dysplasia. The differential diagnosis for
rapidly progressive facial swelling in association with cranial nerve
deficits should include rhabdomyosarcoma, Langerhans cell
histiocytosis, Ewing sarcoma, osteogenic sarcoma, and metastatic
neuroblastoma. (c) RSNA, 2006.
PMID: 16418250 [PubMed – in process]