Endoscopic temporal ventriculocisternostomy: an option for the treatment of trapped temporal horns

Entrapment of the temporal horn is a rare form of isolated hydrocephalus. Standard treatment has not yet been established for this condition, and only a few cases have been reported in the literature. The authors reviewed their prospectively maintained database to report their experience with endoscopic temporal ventriculocisternostomy. All endoscopic operations performed in the Department of Neurosurgery at Ernst Moritz Arndt University between March 1993 and August 2012 were reviewed, and a retrospective chart review of all patients with temporal ventriculocisternostomy was performed. Four patients were identified (3 children and 1 adult). In 3 patients, the condition developed after tumor resection, and in 1 patient it developed due to postmeningitic multiloculated hydrocephalus. In 2 patients, a recurrent trapped temporal horn developed. Refenestration was successful in one of these patients, and dilation in the trigone area with a subsequent stomy of the septum pellucidum was successful in the other. In 1 patient, postoperative meningitis developed, which was treated with antibiotics. Endoscopic temporal ventriculocisternostomy is an option in the treatment of trapped temporal horns. However, more experience is required to recommend it as the treatment of choice.