these range from various slow - growing benign tumors and low - grade malignancies to fast growing high - grade malignancies . angiofibromas are one such group of tumors arising in this region , which present as swellings . of these , nasal angiofibromas ( nas ) are the most common and nas occurring in the region other than the nose are called as extranasopharyngeal angiofibromas ( ena ) . a 54-year - old male reported to our department with history of swelling over the right side of face since 5 years . the patient reported insidious onset of swelling with a gradual progress to the present size . he also reported mild , intermittent , and dull pain in the region of swelling . clinical examination confirmed a solitary , oval , well - defined swelling measuring approximately 7  5 cm in the preauricular region [ figure 1 ] . it extended superioinferiorly from the level of outer canthus of the eye to inferior border of mandible and anterioposteriorly extended from 2 cm in front of anterior border of ramus to the mastoid notch [ figure 1 ] . on palpation , the swelling was firm , non - tender , free from skin , and mobile over the underlying structures . ultrasonography revealed a large lobulated solid mass of 6  4 cm in the right parotid region with multiple vessels with low velocity flow and without any areas of calcification or cystic changes . findings were suggestive of a low - grade vascular tumor . computed tomography scan with contrast medium revealed a large well - circumscribed , solitary isodense lesion measuring 6.36  4.39 cm [ figure 2 ] . it was observed to be extending anteriorly over the superficial lobe of the parotid gland , with anterior displacement of parotid gland . fnac revealed numerous vascular channels with occasional singly scattered and single cluster of plump spindle cells . ct- scan transverse section classical superficial parotidectomy was performed under general anesthesia using a modified appiani incision . tumor mass was dissected anteriorly and excised along with the superficial lobe of parotid gland [ figure 3 ] . facial nerve was located using the anterograde method and all the branches of facial nerve were preserved . follow up , facial nerve function was intact and no sign of reoccurrence was observed . histopathological sections revealed connective tissue with numerous vascular spaces of variable sizes ranging from small capillary - like vessels to partly lined vessels . around the endothelial cells , cells were plump or stellate - shaped with mild inflammatory cell response and composed predominantly of plasma cells and a few lymphoid follicles [ figure 4 ] . photomicrograph shows numerous endothelial lined blood capillaries with collagen fibres interspersed with fibroblasts and fibrocytes ( h&e stain , 40 ) . ( b ) photomicrograph shows endothelial lined blood vessels with connective tissue wall in the background of collagen fibres interspersed with fibroblasts and fibrocytes ( h&e stain , 400 ) photomicrograph of the sections showing the blood vessels positive for cd 34 ( ihc stain , 100 ) various soft tissue tumors , both benign and malignant , present as swelling in the parotid region . clinical examination confirmed a smooth - surfaced , solitary , oval , firm , well - defined swelling measuring approximately 7  5 cm in the preauricular region . based on the clinical findings of location , consistency and borders a differential diagnosis of pleomorphic adenoma , solitary fibrous tumor ( sft ) , low - grade fibrosarcoma , and lipoma was made . as the most common tumors found in the region are parotid tumors , a provisional diagnosis of mixed parotid tumor was made . however , fnac and contrast - enhanced ct scan were in favor of a tumor with vascular component , shifting the differential diagnosis towards tumors with a vascular component presenting as slow - growing , circumscribed firm swellings . histopathological examination of the excised lesion revealed features suggestive of angiofibroma and had to be differentiated from lesions with similar features . the differential diagnosis included low - grade vascular lesions , spindle cell neoplasms , comprising of a large range of benign and low - grade malignant soft tissue lesions , including cellular angiofibroma , sft , low - grade fibromyxoid sarcoma ( lgfms ) , low - grade myxofibrosarcoma , myxoid liposarcoma , giant cell angiofibroma ( gca ) , angiomyolipoma , and angiomyofibroblastoma . cellular angiofibroma , usually occurs in the pelviperineal region , which would be an unusual location for the tumors reported herein ; however , cases have been reported to have occurred in the buccal mucosa , raising a diagnostic possibility . cellular angiofibroma shows more rounded , non - branching vessels , often of medium size with thicker walls . the tumors are generally more uniformly cellular , composed of lesional cells with short , stubby nuclei resembling those of spindle cell lipoma . sfts occur in a variety of locations in the head and neck region ; myxoid examples may be particularly difficult to identify and should be considered in the differential diagnosis . microscopically , besides the so - called  patternless  architecture , there is pronounced regional variation in cellularity , prominent thick collagen bundles and characteristic branching ectatic staghorn vessels , which are not accompanied by the abundant smaller - sized vessels present in angiofibroma of soft tissue . in addition , the tumor cells in sft express strong and diffuse cd34 in most cases . this entity lacks the innumerable , evenly distributed , arborizing thin - walled vessels characteristic of angiofibroma . lgfms is a distinctive fibroblastic malignant neoplasm characterized by a peculiar tendency to give rise to very late metastases . histologically , it shows alternating collagenous and myxoid areas with a usually swirling or whorled growth pattern , a frequently lobular appearance , and deceptively bland spindle cell morphology . the lesions tend to be more hypocellular , with a fibrous component that has uniform collagen deposition rather than the fibrillary or coarsely banded collagen fibers in angiofibroma of soft tissue . although lgfms may contain arcades of thin - walled vessels , vascularity is usually not prominent . usually occurring in subcutaneous tissues of the extremities , it shows distinctive histologic features including a lobulated growth pattern with infiltrative margins and fusiform , round , or stellate tumor cells with frequently slightly eosinophilic cytoplasm and hyperchromatic atypical or pleomorphic nuclei . obvious features of malignancy are usually present , characteristic elongated curvilinear vessels with perivascular hypercellularity , these features bear little or no resemblance to the rich vascular network of angiofibroma . myxoid liposarcoma contains a prominent plexiform network of thin - walled capillaries ( which has been referred to as a  chicken wire  or however , it also shows scattered univacuolar and multivacuolar lipoblasts throughout , as well as stromal mucin pools not seen in angiofibroma . gca has been reported as a benign mesenchymal tumor with 2 cases originating in the buccal mucosa . although benign , the lesion has potential for local reoccurrence , especially after incomplete resection . histopathologically , it has similar presentation to that of sft , with presence of multinucleated giant cells not seen in angiofibroma . angiomyolipoma differs from angiofibromas because of the presence of prominent muscular arteries while angiomyofibroblastoma differs because of the presence of fibrovascular component with a loose myxoid fibroelement . enas have interstitial stromal tissue predominance with less vascular elements such as that of long - standing na . other distinctive histologic features are angiofibroma of soft tissue , consisting of a vaguely lobular , variably cellular proliferation of bland , uniform spindle cells set in an abundant , variably myxoid or collagenous extracellular matrix with numerous small , and thin - walled , branching blood vessels . the complexity of the vascular pattern , often also including larger vessels of varying size and shape , is the most noticeable feature . immunohistochemical analyses may show that stromal cells have strong cytoplasmic reactivity for vimentin and are generally immunonegative for smooth muscle actin and desmin . histopathology coupled with immunohistochemistry usually confirms the diagnosis in favor of angiofibroma . in our case , the tissue specimen showed features consistent with the diagnosis of ena . in 1980 , de vincentiis and pinelli reviewed a series of 704 cases of angiofibroma and found that 13 cases manifested outside the nasopharynx , thus suggesting that extra nasopharyngeal localization of this tumor is a possible although rare occurrence . a review article by windfuhr and remmert in 2004 summarized 65 patients with enas . the most common site reported for enas is the maxillary sinus followed by the ethmoid , nasal cavity , and nasal septum . enas are also reported to originate from the ethmoid sinus , nasal cavity , nasal septum , larynx , sphenoid sinus , cheek , conjunctiva , oropharynx , retromolar area , middle turbinate , inferior turbinate , and tonsil . other rare sites for enas occurrence have also been described - external nose , hard palate , external ear , lacrimal sac , carotid bifurcation , oesophagus , trachea , facial nerve , middle cranial fossa , and infratemporal fossa . the most common age of incidence was the second decade ( 46% ) in comparison to 80% of patients with nas . enas have a higher mean age , i.e , 22 years compared to nas , which have a mean age of 18 years . this lesion has been described as different from that of the classical nasopharyngeal variety in being more common in females , older individuals with an early presentation , and being capsulated with poor vascularity and infrequent recurrence . unlike nas , enas present non - specific and numerous symptoms . imaging modalities such as ct scan , mri , ct angiography , and ultrasonography are required for optimal preoperative evaluation of nas and enas . imaging of nas with a contrast agent leads to diffuse and usually homogenous involvement in ct and mri scans with strong contrast enhancement . in contrast , enas enhances moderate amount of contrast or none due to its weak vascular involvement . surgical excision is the prime modality of treatment for enas ; radiotherapy maybe applied for non - resectable lesions . occurrence of enas , although rare in the maxillofacial region , should be considered in differential diagnosis of swellings in this region .
angiofibromas are rare , benign , locally invasive vascular tumors , which represent 0.05 - 0.5% of all head and neck tumors . 
 most frequent site of occurrence is the posterior nasopharynx , called as nasopharyngeal angiofibromas ( na ) , when these arise outside the nasopharyngeal region they are termed as extranasopharyngeal angiofibromas ( ena ) . 
 only 65 cases of ena have been reported , and the most common site has been reported to be maxilla followed by ethmoids . 
 other unusual sites of occurrence reported so far in literature are nasal cavity , nasal septum , larynx , sphenoid sinus , pterygomaxillary fissure , infratemporal fossa , cheek , oropharynx , retromolar area , middle turbinate , inferior turbinate , and tonsil . 
 ena arising from the superficial lobe of parotid gland has not been reported in the literature so far and this case is the first to be reported .