Tumour of the ethmoid with intracranial and intranasal growth

The case of an 18-year-old female patient suffering from a hemangiopericytoma with intracranial, and paranasal and intranasal extension is described. Before the diagnosis was fully established a partial tumour removal was performed by a nasal surgeon, because the nasal airways were obstructed. Later on, because of the risk of infection, a decision against radical operation was made. The patient was treated by radiation, but the tumour did not respond and she was transferred to the neurosurgical department where the haemangiopericytoma was completely removed. A pericranium-skull flap was used to close the basal defects of dura and skull. The advantage of this technique over other procedures is the safe closure of the intracranial cavity, thus permitting a radical removal of an intracranial-intranasal tumour in one operation.