title: A rare spontaneous temporal meningoencephalocele with dehiscence into the pterygoid fossa.
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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Chuo-ku, Kobe 650-0017, Japan.
authors.forename: Tasuku
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nishikawa
authors.forename: Haruhiko
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ishida
authors.forename: Ken-Ichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nibu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001706:Biopsy; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery; D035301:Cranial Fossa, Middle / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D004677:Encephalocele / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology* / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008588:Meningocele / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology* / Q000601:surgery; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D016312:Treatment Refusal