Complications of CSF rhinorrhea
Jyotirmay S. Hegde, Hemanth Vamanshankar in CSF Rhinorrhea, 2020
Catastrophic consequences of an untreated CSF rhinorrhea are described historically. These include meningitis, intracranial hypotension, pneumocephalus, and intracranial abscess formation. Meningitis, the most commonly described complication, is seen to develop in about 6.75% of cases of a persistent CSF leak, and in turn may lead to potentially debilitating problems and a long-term consequences. Almost 80% of pneumocephalus cases are caused by trauma. Patients with idiopathic intracranial hypertension and spontaneous CSF leaks are highly prone to develop encephaloceles. Mortality rates secondary to traumatic brain injury with CSF rhinorrhea are known to be significantly higher than those of traumatic brain injury without a CSF leak.
Frontal Sinus Fractures
Zol B. Kryger in Practical Plastic Surgery, 2007
Introduction Frontal sinus fractures can have serious consequences due to the proximity of the sinus to the intracranial cavity and the potential for nasofrontal duct obstruc tion with its long-term sequelae. Delayed or improper management o f frontal sinus fractures can result in complications including meningitis, mucopyocele, pneumocephalus and brain abscess. Frontal sinus fractures comprise approxi mately 10% of facial fractures. Males are injured more frequently than females (8:1). The incidence o f fractures o f the frontal sinus is greatest in the third de cade of life. Motor vehicle accidents are the most common cause. Other causes include physical altercations (including gunshot wounds), sports, industrial acci dents and falls.
Spontaneous tension pneumocephalus and pneumoventricle in ecchordosis physaliphora: case report of a rare presentation and review of the literature
Published in British Journal of Neurosurgery, 2020
Prajwal Ghimire, Jonathan Shapey, Istvan Bodi, Steve Connor, Nicholas Thomas, Konstantinos Barkas
We describe the case of a 65-year-old lady who presented with mutism and a right hemiparesis. Imaging showed a severe spontaneous tension pneumocephalus. The cause was diagnosed as Ecchordosis physaliphora (EP). EP is a rare cystic congenital hamartomatous benign notochordal tumor (BNCT) arising from an ectopic notochordal remnant. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first case of EP to be described in the literature which presented with a life-threatening but treatable condition of severe tension pneumocephalus.
Symptomatic pneumocephalus: A rare complication of discal herniation's surgery
Published in The Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine, 2019
Ghassen Gader, Nadhir Karmeni, Imed Ben Saïd, Hafedh Jemel
Context: We report the case of a 40-year-old woman with no pathological history, operated from an L4-L5 disc herniation by a left unilateral approach. The dura mater enveloping the left L5 root was accidentally injured at its lateral face causing a breach with CSF leakage. This breach could not be sutured. A few hours after waking, the patient presented an agitation followed by three generalized tonico-clonic seizures. Cerebral imaging revealed pneumocephalus. The patient was hospitalized in an intensive care unit. The symptoms gradually faded and the patient was discharged 3 days after surgery. Findings: Pneumocephalus is defined by the presence of air inside the skull. The symptoms of pneumocephalus are generally non-specific and varied, and this complication should also be kept in mind to prevent potentially severe course. The prevention of postoperative pneumocephalus depends on a well-defined strategy in the case of iatrogenic dural tear. Conclusions: Symptomatic pneumocephalus is a very rare complication in the course of lumbar surgery. Conservative therapy may be appropriate even in severe symptomatic manifestations.
Take it seriously or not: postoperative pneumocephalus in CSDH patients?
Published in British Journal of Neurosurgery, 2020
Guo-Hui Huang, Xin-Cai Li, Li Ren, Rong-Xiao Dai, Zhao-Liang Sun, Xiu-Feng Jiang, Dong-Fu Feng
Background: Pneumocephalus is a common finding after burr-hole drainage of chronic subdural hematoma (CSDH). Its effects have not been specifically studied. Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed in 140 patients with CSDH with single burr-hole drainage. The pre- and postoperative volumes of intracranial hematoma and the postoperative volume of pneumocephalus were calculated and analyzed with their relationships with Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) and Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) scores. Results: The preoperative hematoma volume and the patient ages are positively correlated with the 1-day postoperative pneumocephalus volume (p 0.05). The age and the volume of 1-day postoperative pneumocephalus are positively correlated with the absorbing rate of pneumocephalus (p
Related Knowledge Centers
- Brain Stem
- Cerebellum
- Hemiparesis
- Chronic Brain Injuries
- Neurosurgical Procedures
- Post Coma
- Neurobehavioral Manifestations