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Anatomical variation of the extracranial course of the optic nerve in the floor of the sphenoid sinus: first reported case

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 May 2013

A Girguis-Bucher*
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Lucerne Cantonal Hospital, Switzerland
C Schlegel-Wagner
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Lucerne Cantonal Hospital, Switzerland
*
Address for correspondence: Dr. Andrea Girguis Bucher, HNO medic, Splügenstrasse 6, 8002 Zurich, Switzerland Fax: +41 44 201 00 56 E-mail: [email protected]

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.

Method:

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.

Type
Clinical Records
Copyright
Copyright © JLO (1984) Limited 2013 

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References

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