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Spontaneous CSF rhinorrhoea from separate defects of the anterior and middle cranial fossa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 March 2006

U. Raghavan
Affiliation:
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University Hospital Nottingham, UK.
S. Majumdar
Affiliation:
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University Hospital Nottingham, UK.
N. S. Jones
Affiliation:
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University Hospital Nottingham, UK.

Abstract

Multiple congenital dehiscence of the skull base is rare and can give rise to spontaneous CSF rhinorrhoea. A search of the world literature revealed only five reports of CSF leak with more than one concomitant skull base defect. When treating a patient with spontaneous CSF rhinorrhoea the possibility of its originating from the middle ear and eustachian tube should be considered. An intrathecal injection of fluorescein is useful in establishing the site of a CSF leak especially when a computed tomography scan (CT) or magnetic resonance image (MRI) has not localized the site. We discuss a case of a 72-year-old lady presenting with CSF rhinorrhoea, who had an anterior skull base defect localized with the help of intrathecal fluorescein and repaired surgically. Subsequent to this she had a further episode of CSF rhinorrhoea that originated from a middle-ear meningocele that was then repaired.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© Royal Society of Medicine Press Limited 2002

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