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Extensive and symptomatic cranial pneumatization: caused by frequent performance of Valsalva's manoeuvre?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 June 2007

Mette Nyrop ,
Per K. Bjerre ,
Johnny Christensen  and
Karsten E. Jørgensen
Mette Nyrop*
Affiliation:
Department of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Odense University Hospital, Denmark.
Per K. Bjerre
Affiliation:
Department of Neurosurgery, Odense University Hospital, Denmark.
Johnny Christensen
Affiliation:
Department of Radiology, Odense University Hospital, Denmark.
Karsten E. Jørgensen
Affiliation:
Department of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Odense University Hospital, Denmark.
*
Address for correspondence: Mette Nyrop, Department of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Odense University Hospital, DK-5000 Odense C, Denmark.
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Abstract

Pneumocranium and spontaneous pneumocephalus are very rare disorders. We report a case in which the patient had suffered for some time from neck pain and neurological symptoms which originated from an extensively pneumatized cranium. The symptoms and the abnormal bone pneumatization disappeared after normalization of a high middle-ear pressure. The history and the findings suggest that the pathological pneumatization was caused by the patient's habit of frequently performing Valsalva's manoeuvre, in combination with the Eustachian tube functioning as a valve.

Keywords

PneumocephalusEar, middleEustachian tubeValsalva's manoeuvre
Type
Radiology in Focus
Information
The Journal of Laryngology & Otology , Volume 113 , Issue 5 , May 1999 , pp. 480 - 482
Copyright
Copyright © JLO (1984) Limited 1999

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