SPONTANEOUS CEREBROSPINAL RHINORRHEA: SUCCESSFUL SURGICAL TREATMENT

Abstract

THREE patients who had spontaneous cerebrospinal rhinorrhea have been treated successfully by means of the intracranial surgical procedure described by Adson.¹ All three patients were females who had congenital defects of the cribriform plate of the ethmoid bone. Two of these patients were adults; their bony defects were small, and rhinorrhea apparently had been precipitated by mild infections of the upper part of the respiratory tract. The third patient, who was a child, had a large bilateral defect in the cribriform plate, with a portion of the left frontal lobe herniating into the left nasal canal. In all cases rhinorrhea had continued unabated until it was treated by intracranial surgery. In 1 case intranasal cauterization had been carried out twice but had failed to eliminate the nasal discharge. The cerebrospinal fluid was identified by its physical characteristics and by chemical analysis for sugar. The patients did not have rhinorrhea after