Pneumosinus dilatans of the sphenoid and visual loss: when should the optic nerve be decompressed?

Pneumosinus dilatans of the sphenoid sinus is a rare disorder which can be responsible for visual impairment and blindness. We present the case of an adolescent female who experienced progressive decrease in right-eye vision over 2 years. CT scan of the head showed an extensive pneumatization of the sphenoid bone extending to the lesser wing of the sphenoid and to the anterior clinoid process on the right side.

Functional sparing surgery policy for giant vestibular schwannomas.

Objective: The objective of this study was to compare the tumour control and facial nerve outcome according to the therapeutic strategy, that is extent of resection and post-operative radiotherapy.

Design: Retrospective study of patients with a giant vestibular schwannoma surgically treated from 4 academic skull base centres.

Setting: Extent of resection, neurological complications, facial nerve function, MRI follow-up and occurrence of complementary treatment were reviewed.

Ruptured intracranial arachnoid cysts in the subdural space: evaluation of subduro-peritoneal shunts in a pediatric population.

Purpose: Rupture of arachnoid cysts (AC) in the subdural space after trauma may cause a subacute/chronic subdural hematoma or a hygroma. Treatment of this complication still remains controversial, and no consensual strategy is to date clearly proposed. In this study, the authors evaluated the clinical and radiological evolution of patients treated by a subduro-peritoneal shunt for symptomatic subdural collections complicating ruptured AC.