Mucoceles of the sphenoid sinus are rare and may frequently remain undiagnosed until symptoms due to compression of surrounding structures set in. In such cases, the optic nerve, because of its close proximity to the sphenoid sinus, is at risk, and pressure exerted by the mucocele may result in visual impairment. A case of a sphenoid sinus mucocele with sudden-onset unilateral blindness as the ...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Defects at the skull base leading to spontaneous CSF rhinorrhea are rare lesions. The purpose of our study was to correlate CT and MR findings regarding the location and content of CSF leaks in 27 patients with endoscopic sinus surgery observations. MATERIALS AND METHODS Imaging studies in 27 patients with intermittent CSF rhinorrhea (CT in every patient including 10 ex...

Amyloidosis of the skull base is a rare entity. A patient with localized amyloidosis of the sphenoid sinus presented at our institution with cerebrospinal fluid rhinorrhoea. Endoscopic excision of the lesion and multilayered obliteration of the sphenoid sinus resolved the symptoms.

BACKGROUND Anterior clinoidectomy is a difficult but important part of surgery for a variety of parasellar, proximal carotid and central skull base pathologies. First developed intradurally nearly 60 years ago, the promotion of an extradural technique decades later offered an approach with a different set of difficulties, risks and benefits. Many recent studies have demonstrated that there is n...

Most, but not all, sellar abnormalities are pituitary adenomas. We recently reviewed our series of transsphenoidal procedures done between 1998 and 2009 to determine the incidence and characteristics of non-pituitary sellar lesions (1). Over this period, 1,469 transsphenoidal procedures were performed. One hundred sixteen cases (7.9%) were not pituitary tumors. These were divided into four majo...

OBJECTIVE Scintigraphy with a radiolabeled somatostatin analog ((111)In-diethylenetriaminepenta-acetic acid octreotide) detects the somatostatin receptors that are found in vitro in all meningiomas. Previous studies have proved the benefit of radioimmunoguided surgery, with a hand-held gamma probe, for the assessment and removal of neuroendocrine tumors. We conducted a study to determine whethe...

BACKGROUND Isolated sphenoid sinus pathologies are relatively rare. In the majority of cases, symptoms do not arise in the early stages of the disease or are non-specific, therefore making diagnosis difficult. The aim of this study was to investigate the diagnostic process and the reasons for development of complications in patients with isolated sphenoid sinus pathology. MATERIAL/METHODS The...

BACKGROUND The surgical management of chronic recurrent sinusitis (CRS) recalcitrant to medical therapy in the pediatric population has traditionally consisted of adenoidectomy and functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS), depending on age and imaging findings. Adenoidectomy relieves nasopharyngeal airway obstruction as well as potentially eradicates a bacterial reservoir. FESS, as in adults,...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate variations of some anatomic structures of sellar and parasellar regions and their possible differences between genders and age groups. PATIENTS AND METHODS Magnetic resonance images (MRI) of 380 patients were performed to analyze the dimensions of the sphenoid sinus, pituitary gland, optic chiasm, intra-cavernous carotid distances, distance between columella nasal - sphe...

Giant cell tumor (GCT) of the sphenoid bone is a relatively rare entity and metachronous multicentric GCT of the sphenoid is even rarer; we are aware of only 3 previous cases in the literature. We describe here a tumor of the sphenoid bone that was identified 15 years after multiple resections of a GCT of the left inferior pubic ramus. Correlation is made between the histopathologic findings, M...