Pneumatocele caused by ballistic injury of the anterior stage of the skull base, a case report
Portmann, D.; Herman, D.; Got, M.
Revue de Laryngologie - Otologie - Rhinologie 111(3): 239-243
1990
ISSN/ISBN: 0035-1334 PMID: 2218138 Document Number: 365832
The authors present a case of intracerebral expansive pneumatocele following a ethmoido-sphenoidal fracture by a bullet. The case presented is exceptional, as the bullet went through the brain case without injuring the neurological structure. The patient is operated on through the low paralateronasal approach, by filling the ethmoid and the sphenoid with autologous bone material. This surgical treatment makes closure of the fistula and disappearance of the pneumatocele possible, however, not enough time has gone by for making other judgments. This approach, which has a much lower morbidity rate than the approach of the anterior stage through craniectomy, is effective for fractures of the sphenoid and the posterior ethmoid.