Review of the management of pneumocephalus.
BACKGROUND
Pneumocephalus (PNC) is the presence of air in the intracranial cavity. The most frequent cause is trauma, but there are many other etiological factors, such as surgical procedures. PNC with compression of frontal lobes and the widening of the interhemispheric space between the tips of the frontal lobes is a characteristic radiological finding of the "Mount Fuji sign." In addition to presenting our own case, we reviewed the most relevant clinical features, diagnostic methods, and conservative management for this condition.


METHODS
A 74-year-old male was diagnosed with meningioma of olfactory groove several years ago. After no improvement, surgery of the left frontal craniotomy keyhole type was conducted. A computed tomography (CT) scan of the skull performed 24 h later showed a neuroimaging that it is described as the silhouette of Mount Fuji. The treatment was conservative and used continuous oxygen for 5 days. Control CT scan demonstrated reduction of the intracranial air with normal brain parenchyma.


CONCLUSIONS
The review of the literature, we did not find any cases of tension pneumocephalus documented previously through a supraorbital keyhole approach. There are a few cases reported of patients with Mount Fuji signs that do not require surgical procedures. The conservative treatment in our report leads to clinical and radiological improvement as well as a reduction in hospitalization time.
Department of Neurosurgery, Campo Limpo Municipal Hospital, São Paulo, Brasil.
Carlos B
CB
Dabdoub
Department of Neurosurgery, Caja Petrolera de Salud Hospital, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia.
Gueider
G
Salas
School of Medicine, University City of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brasil.
Elisabeth do N
Edo N
Silveira
Department of Neurosurgery, School of Medicine, Franz Tamayo University, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia.
Carlos F
CF
Dabdoub
Mount Fuji sign; olfactory meningioma; pneumocephalus; supraorbital keyhole approach; tension pneumocephalus