Endoscopic endonasal treatment of a spontaneous temporosphenoidal encephalocele with a detachable silicone balloon. Case report.

Temporosphenoidal encephaloceles are rare entities that occur when the temporal lobe herniates into the sphenoid sinus through a skull base defect of the temporal bone. Both an iatrogenic and a traumatic pathogenesis have been proposed. The authors describe a spontaneously occurring temporosphenoidal encephalocele in a 63-year-old woman who had a 4-year history of rhinorrhea. Spiral computerized tomography (CT) scanning revealed a bone defect located inside the ophthalmomaxillary triangle. The intrasphenoidal encephalocele had a heterogeneously hypointense signal compared with cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) on T1-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) images and a hyperintense signal compared with CSF on T2-weighted MR images. Two previous endonasal endoscopic procedures, performed by ear, nose, and throat surgeons, had been unsuccessful. The authors performed an endoscopic endonasal right nostril procedure by using 0 degrees and 45 degrees rigid-lens endoscopes that were 4 mm in diameter and 18 cm long. The encephalocele in the sphenoid sinus was partially removed. DuraGen and fat graft were positioned in the bone defect. Two No. 2 French detachable silicone balloons (1.5 cm3 volume) inflated with surgical glue were introduced into the skull defect and into the sphenoid sinus, respectively. The CSF leakage stopped immediately. No nasal packing or postoperative CSF lumbar drainage was necessary. The patient did well. Postoperative CT and MR imaging, obtained at 24 hours and at 3 months, demonstrated that the balloon and the fat graft filled the bone defect and the sphenoid sinus. Eight months postprocedure no CSF leakage was observed. This appears to be the first case reported in the literature of a temporosphenoidal encephalocele successfully treated by an endoscopic endonasal technique involving packing of the defect with inflated detachable balloons.