title: [Repairing front skull base and saddle bottom of cerebrospinal fluid rhinorrhea under endoscopy].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore the methods and techniques of repairing cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) rhinorrhea and reconstructing the defects of skull base under endoscopy.
  
  
  METHODS
  The clinical data of 26 patients undergoing endoscopic repair of CSF rhinorrhea were analyzed retrospectively. There were 19 males and 7 females with an average age of 31.5 years old. Rhinorrhea was classified into 4 types: ethmoidal sinus type (n = 6), sphenoid sinus type (n = 14) and mixed type (n = 6) and frontal sinus type (n = 0).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The causes of rhinorrhea were as follows: traumatic leakage (n = 17), post-operative breakage of saddle area (n = 6), damage after endonasal surgery (n = 2) rhinorrhea after gamma-knife for pituitary (n = 1). All cases were successfully repaired via an endoscopic endonasal approach. Among them, 22 patients were repaired only once while 4 patients with recurrent CSF rhinorrhea were repaired again. The follow-up period was from 6 months to 4 years. And satisfactory outcomes were achieved in all.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Accurate localization of CSF leakage, reliable reconstruction of skull base, secure fixation of adhesive materials and continuous lumbar CSF drainage are keys surgical techniques. Endoscopic repair of front skull base and saddle bottom of CSF rhinorrhea is a reliable, effective and mini-invasive surgical approach worth further popularization.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Zhongshan Hospital, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361004, China. txhmd@yahoo.com.cn
authors.forename: Xin-Hua
authors.initials: XH
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.forename: Yan-Lin
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Feng-Lin
authors.initials: FL
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Lu-Kui
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Jun-Long
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Xiao-Ning
authors.initials: XN
authors.lastname: Lin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002559:Cerebrospinal Fluid Rhinorrhea / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D044583:Neuroendoscopy; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D019291:Skull Base / Q000601:surgery*; D055815:Young Adult