Raeder described five patients with mixed features of trigeminal nerve pathology and oculosympathetic impairment, with or without other cranial nerve lesions. This constellation of clinical features drew the original author’s attention to the paratrigeminal region as a likely site for the causative lesion in this syndrome. An analysis of the anatomy of the oculosympathetic innervation supports ...

The infratemporal fossa is a deep quadrangular space located at the inferior aspect of the middle cranial fossa. Numerous surgical approaches have been described to gain access to benign and malignant pathology of this anatomical area. The transzygomatic transmandibular approach provides excellent wide exposure of the infratemporal space, for resection of tumours afflicting this region.

BACKGROUND Extrdural granulation or abscess is a possible complication of chronic suppurative otitis media (CSOM) with cholesteatoma. However, due to development of newer antibiotics and advances in bacteriology and imaging techniques, the incidence of extradural granulation or abscess has significantly decreased. The present study analyzed the clinical presentation, imaging findings, and surgi...

We present the first report of a patient with atypical hemifacial microsomia (HFM) and unilateral aplasia of the floor of the middle cranial fossa, glenoid fossa, and portions of her posterior fossa. The patient also developed a Chiari I malformation with cervical syrinx over a 3-year interval. This case report highlights the critical role of imaging in revealing serious, but clinically occult,...

Middle ear adenomas are rare and difficult to diagnose. Recent histological studies suggest the presence of a distinct disease entity known as a middle ear adenoma. A 16-year-old boy with a middle ear tumor was treated by partial temporal bone resection, and the tumor was removed by a combined method using the middle cranial fossa and infratemporal fossa approaches. Histological and immunohisto...

Variations of the dural folds and the dural venous sinuses are seldom reported in the extant medical literature. Such variations in the posterior cranial fossa may be problematic in various diagnostic and operative procedures of this region. We report our observation of an extremely rare variation of the falx cerebelli and posterior cranial fossa venous sinuses encountered upon dissection of a ...

The sphenoidal emissary foramen (SEF) is an inconsistent foramen located in the middle cranial fossa. The SEF may transmit a sphenoidal emissary vein (of Vesalius), dural venous sinus, nervolulus sphenoidalis lateralis, or an accessory middle meningeal artery. Prior reports have noted SEF to exist unilaterally and bilaterally. Duplication of the SEF has also been documented to occur unilaterall...

options are limited and consist mostly of patient education, prognostication, limitation of further damage, and appropriate ear, nose, and throat (ENT) referral. The ear is surrounded by the middle cranial fossa superiorly, the mastoid air cells posteriorly, the cranial vault medially, and the temporomandibular joint and parotid glands anteriorly. Evaluation of these structures is a necessary p...

OBJECTIVE To determine the incidence of intracranial injury, specifically in the temporal lobe, in patients with longitudinal fractures of the temporal bone. DESIGN Prospective inception cohort. SETTING University of Maryland Division of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery and the Maryland Shock Trauma Center, Baltimore. PATIENTS Twenty-seven consecutive patients with unilateral or bilat...

UNLABELLED The classic approach for cochlear implant surgery includes mastoidectomy and posterior tympanotomy. The middle cranial fossa approach is a proven alternative, but it has been used only sporadically and inconsistently in cochlear implantation. OBJECTIVE To describe a new approach to expose the basal turn of the cochlea in cochlear implant surgery through the middle cranial fossa. ...