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Anterior clinoid mucocele presenting with orbital apex syndrome
Anthony C Wang1, Khoi D Than, Suresh Ramnath
1Department of Neurosurgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.
Background:
Pneumatized anterior clinoid process is a common anatomic variant. Mucocele formation is a known complication of clinoid drilling during certain intracranial operations; however, mucoceles of pneumatized anterior clinoid processes have been found to spontaneously occur.
Case Description:
A 44-year-old male presented with complaints of left-sided retro-orbital pain, double vision, and numbness over the upper face and scalp on the left side of 1-week duration. On examination, he was found to develop cranial nerve III, IV, and VI palsies with pupillary sparing, ophthalmic division cranial nerve V dysfunction, and eventually, the onset of vision loss.
Conclusions:
We report a case of spontaneous anterior clinoid process mucocele presenting with orbital apex syndrome. This was treated successfully with anterior clinoidectomy for decompression.
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