A rare spontaneous temporal meningoencephalocele with dehiscence into the pterygoid fossa

Auris Nasus Larynx. 2004 Dec;31(4):429-31. doi: 10.1016/j.anl.2004.07.004.

Abstract

We present an extremely rare case of basal meningoencephalocele that protruded into the left pterygoid fossa from the middle cranial fossa. After a 30-year-old woman experienced a generalized tonic-clonic seizure, computed tomography (CT) scanning showed a large bone defect of the left middle cranial base. A mass lesion with low signal intensity on T1- and high signal intensity on T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was visualized in the left pterygoid fossa. A biopsy was performed through the transantral approach. Because cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was observed to flow from the mass lesion, it was diagnosed as a meningoencephalocele. CT showed bone defects in the skull base and a well-circumscribed expansile mass lesion. MRI demonstrated that the brain parenchyma extended into a CSF-filled meningocele. These findings demonstrate that CT and MRI provide adequate information for the diagnosis of meningoencephaloceles.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Biopsy
  • Brain Neoplasms / diagnosis
  • Brain Neoplasms / surgery
  • Cranial Fossa, Middle / diagnostic imaging*
  • Cranial Fossa, Middle / pathology*
  • Cranial Fossa, Middle / surgery
  • Encephalocele / diagnosis*
  • Encephalocele / etiology*
  • Encephalocele / surgery
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Meningocele / diagnosis*
  • Meningocele / etiology*
  • Meningocele / surgery
  • Postoperative Complications
  • Temporal Lobe / diagnostic imaging*
  • Temporal Lobe / pathology*
  • Temporal Lobe / surgery
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed
  • Treatment Refusal