Endoscopic management of pediatric sinonasal schwannoma: case report.

OBJECTIVES: To describe an extremely rare pediatric sinonasal schwannoma, and to reviewmanagement strategies and relevant literature. METHODS: Case report of pediatric sinonasal schwannoma, that was imaged with computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging and managed endoscopically. Immunohistochemical analysis was performed to determine pathology. RESULTS: A 12-year-old girl presented with a 2-month history of progressive left exophthalmos. Imaging studies showed a large heterogeneous tumour arising from the ethmoid sinus and extending to the base of the skull and to the orbital cavity. The lesion was removed with an endonasal radical excision. The final pathological diagnosis was schwannoma. There was no tumour recurrence or any major complication during the 2-year follow up. CONCLUSION: Schwannoma should be considered in the differential diagnosis for pediatric patients with intranasal masses. Depending on the location and extent of the tumour, endonasal endoscopic excision could be a suitable management strategy.

Conservative management of transnasal intracranial injury.

The purpose of this study was to explore the conservative management for an unusual case of transnasal intracranial injury. A 3-year-old female child presenting with transnasal injuries after a domestic accident whereby she apparently fell while holding a large pair of scissors, which then penetrated her left nasal cavity, piercing her nasal cavity, ethmoid sinus, and skull base. The scissors were removed from her nasal cavity. The patient had scant cerebrospinal rhinorrhea and no other additional neurologic deficits noted at the time, as well as no long-term developmental deficits. This report highlights the occurrence of this rare condition. The role of radiologic studies such as computed tomographic scans and plain films in diagnosis and management of this case is affirmed. The strategy of minimally invasive treatment of this injury can be a reasonable treatment option.

Large wooden orbital foreign body: case report and literature review.

Orbital trauma is often associated with foreign bodies. Wooden foreign bodies pose an urgent need for removal owing to their reactive nature and the high risk for infection. Though visual prognosis depends on associated ocular trauma, in selected cases, excellent visual and cosmetic outcomes are possible. An 18-year-old woman presented to our trauma facility with a history of fall directly onto a wooden stick from a height. On examination, there was a large wooden foreign body in the left medial orbit, extending into the ethmoidal sinus as visualised on imaging. After administration of perioperative antibiotics, the foreign body was removed in toto using careful tissue dissection and the soft tissue was closed in layers. Postoperatively at six months, the vision in the left eye was 20/20 with mild ptosis. Early surgery, careful dissection of soft tissues and adequate infection prophylaxis can lead to good outcomes in such cases.

An Unfamiliar Complication of Frontoethmoid Sinus Fibrous Dysplasia: Intradiploic CSF Cyst.

Fibrous dysplasia is a slow growing fibro-osseous tumor, which is infrequent in craniofacial location and very rarely found in paranasal sinuses. Its occurrence is usually in children and young adolescents. The complications common in this location are related to the sinus ostia obstruction, like sinusitis or mucocele formation. Aneurysmal bone cyst formation has also been reported. We present a case of frontoethmoid fibrous dysplasia which extends to the nasal cavity and extraaxial frontal region. The peculiarity about the case is its association with the intradiploic CSF cyst formation, which to best of our knowledge has never been reported before.

[Endoscopic treatment of cerebral rhinorrhea]. / Endoskopowe leczenie plynotoku nosowego.

INTRODUCTION: The frequency of different factors causing cerebrospinal fluid rhinorrhea (CFR) has lately changed. The incidence of iatrogenic CFR has reached 10% of all cases of CFR, due to an increasing number of endoscopic operations of the sinuses and skull base, while idiopathic CFR is nowadays very rare. The current treatment method for CFR is surgical repair of the fistula. Endoscopic surgery of the anterior skull base has become the standard procedure for the repair of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leaks of various origins. The aim of this study was to analyse results of endoscopic surgical technique used in our department for the treatment of CFR. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Records of 5 patients aged from 46 to 69 (mean 58.2) years treated in the department between April 2004 and March 2006 were analysed retrospectively. 4 individuals had underwent endoscopic sinus surgery for sinus problems which resulted in iatrogenic CSF leak. One patient had idiopathic CFR. 3 fistulas localised in the neighbourhood of the cribriform plate were closed using an "underlay" technique with synthetic dura, and covered with free mucosal grafts from the nasal septum, kept in place by fibrin glue. The fistula in the neighbourhood of the sphenoid sinus posterior wall was closed using an ,,overlay" technique with surgical, covered with synthetic dura. RESULTS: In the 3 patients with cribriform plate fistulas the closure was successful and CFR did not recur during 6 to 9 month's follow-up. In the patient with sphenoid sinus fistula CFR recurred on exertion after 4 months. In one patient with cribriform plate fistula, CFR resolved spontaneously during preparation to surgery. CONCLUSIONS: Endoscopic closure of the skull base fistula represents a minimally invasive and highly successful procedure. Our experience suggests thet the optimal surgical technique in the region of cribriform plate consists in performing an "underlay" procedure with synthetic dura and covering the graft with free mucosal grafts from the nasal septum.

[Indication for endoscopic procedures in maxiloethmoydal mucoceles]. / Indicación del tratamiento endoscópico de los mucoceles maxiloetmoidales.

The Functional Endoscopic Sinus Surgery has posibilitated a change in the diagnosis, treatment and postsurgical management of many nasosinusal diseases. Mucoceles of the paranasal sinuses are an ideal indication for performing these surgical procedures when good accesibility conditions are present. Under these circumstances, external approach, with the subsequent impairments and morbility, could be avoided. An endoscopically treated extensive maxilloethmoydal mucocele is presented and key points to endoscopic treatment indication are provided.

Nasal foreign body: removal of an open safety pin from the left nostril.

We describe the case of a woman who presented with an open safety pin lodged in her left nostril. An attempt to remove the pin with the patient under local anesthesia was not successful. Removal was eventually accomplished in the operating room with the patient under general anesthesia.

Anatomic measurements of the anterior and posterior ethmoid arteries in cadaveric heads using endoscopic sinus instrumentation.

The challenges of endoscopic sinus surgery lie in the complexity of the anatomy of the nasal vault and side walls and the proximity to critical structures. Additionally, operating in a three-dimensional space while relying on a two-dimensional image for surgical navigation can be a disorienting task. Successful sinus surgery relies on the surgeon having a clear understanding of the anatomy and relationships within the operative field. We performed a study of 8 adult cadaveric heads to better elucidate the location of the ethmoid arteries in relation to an accessible external landmark, the nasal sill. Sinus endoscopy was performed on the heads to identify and measure the distance from the nasal sill to the anterior and posterior ethmoid arteries. We found that the distance from the nasal sill to the anterior ethmoid artery was approximately 6.0 cm, and the distance to the posterior ethmoid artery was approximately 6.7 cm. The interarterial distance was approximately 1.2 cm. With a better understanding of these vessels, surgeons will be better able to avoid them during surgery and thereby minimize the risk of excessive intraoperative bleeding and perioperative orbital hematoma.

A novel use of a landmark to avoid injury of the anterior ethmoidal artery during endoscopic sinus surgery.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to describe and correlate radiographically the anterior ethmoidal artery (AEA) to useful endoscopic surgical landmarks, such as the nasal beak (NB), nasal crest (NC), and axilla of the middle turbinate, because these are commonly encountered during endoscopic sinus surgery and skull base surgery. METHODS: A retrospective review and software analysis was performed by three independent observers. Measurements of distance and angulation from the AEA to the NC, NB, and axilla of the middle turbinate were performed. A total of 138 unique computed tomography (CT) scans performed at a university tertiary care center were evaluated. RESULTS: The average age of the patients whose scans were analyzed was 50.5 (range, 17-90 years) years of age. The gender distribution was 61 male and 89 female patients. After comparing the measurements to the three landmarks noted, it was determined that the NB had the most interpatient concordance and the least interobserver variability. The average distance between the NB and the AEA as it penetrates the lamina papyracea is 2.34 cm (variance, 0.07) at an angle of 45.21° from the Frankfurt horizontal line. CONCLUSION: The real advantage of this novel use of the NB as a landmark to identify the AEA is that it is easy to use, unobtrusive, and is not time-consuming. This relationship between the NB and the AEA is consistent across genders and ethnicities and is more valuable than others presented previously, which may be more variable.

The prevention and management of complications in ethmoid sinus surgery.

Prevention of complications during ethmoid sinus surgery begins with sound knowledge of the relevant anatomy, preoperative planning with use of radiologic imaging, and careful, thoughtful dissection intraoperatively. Despite these measures, however, complications may occur. This article highlights potential complications and treatment techniques to salvage good outcomes following endoscopic ethmoidectomy.

Endoscopic endonasal resection of a midline intradural frontobasal dermoid tumour.

Dermoid and epidermoid cysts are congenital, slowly growing tumours that usually become symptomatic when patients reach the middle of their third decade. An otherwise healthy 20-year-old man presented with an epileptic attack. Imaging studies including computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging revealed an intradural cystic lesion located in the anterior subfrontal region. Choices of traditional approaches for such a lesion are a bicoronal craniotomy or a transfacial procedure. Taking the advantage of the endoscope, the authors decided to remove the lesion via an endonasal route. After a fully endoscopic endonasal operation, gross total resection of the dermoid tumour was achieved. We have not observed cerebrospinal fluid leakage or any infectious complication after the operation. In this report the technique of operation and reconstruction method are described. The endoscopic endonasal approach offers a good option for lesions located in the anterior skull base. Carefully piecemeal resection of the tumour while preserving the underlying neural and vascular structures should be the main strategy of the operation. Reconstruction is very important after the surgery and a carefully planned pedicled graft technique may help in the prevention of cerebrospinal fluid leakage.