title: Anatomical variation of the extracranial course of the optic nerve in the floor of the sphenoid sinus: first reported case.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We report a unique case of anatomical variation of the extracranial course of the optic nerve running in the floor of the sphenoid sinus.
  
  
  METHODS
  Clinical and radiological findings are presented.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A 39-year-old woman with Turner syndrome presented with severe headache associated with visual disturbances. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a mass presumed to be a sella meningioma. Computed tomography of the paranasal sinuses was undertaken to help plan surgical removal via an endoscopic trans-sphenoidal approach; this scan revealed an atypical extracranial course of the optic nerve, running in the floor of the sphenoid sinus.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Lucerne Cantonal Hospital, Switzerland. girguis@hno-medic.ch
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Girguis-Bucher
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schlegel-Wagner
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004724:Endoscopy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008579:Meningioma / Q000175:diagnosis; D009900:Optic Nerve / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D010255:Paranasal Sinus Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis; D010256:Paranasal Sinuses / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D013101:Sphenoid Sinus / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014424:Turner Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology