Spontaneous transtemporal CSF leakage: a study of 51 cases.

We conducted a retrospective study of 51 cases of spontaneous transtemporal cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leakage in 48 adults who had presented to our tertiary care academic referral center between July 1, 1988, and June 30, 2002. All patients had undergone high-resolution temporal bone computed tomography, and 26 patients had undergone magnetic resonance imaging. All patients were treated with a middle fossa craniotomy to repair the CSF fistulae. During a mean follow-up of 4.9 years, 46 of the 48 patients (95.8%) had experienced a complete cessation of CSF leakage (49 of 51 cases [96.1%]). The 2 patients whose leakage recurred were successfully managed with a subtotal petrosectomy with occlusion of the eustachian tube and obliteration of the middle ear and mastoid. No patient developed meningitis.