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Case Reports
. 2015 Sep 29:6:155.
doi: 10.4103/2152-7806.166195. eCollection 2015.

Review of the management of pneumocephalus

Carlos B Dabdoub  1 , Gueider Salas  2 , Elisabeth do N Silveira  3 , Carlos F Dabdoub  4
Affiliations
Case Reports

Review of the management of pneumocephalus

Carlos B Dabdoub et al. Surg Neurol Int. .

Abstract

Background: Pneumocephalus (PNC) is the presence of air in the intracranial cavity. The most frequent cause is trauma, but there are many other etiological factors, such as surgical procedures. PNC with compression of frontal lobes and the widening of the interhemispheric space between the tips of the frontal lobes is a characteristic radiological finding of the "Mount Fuji sign." In addition to presenting our own case, we reviewed the most relevant clinical features, diagnostic methods, and conservative management for this condition.

Case description: A 74-year-old male was diagnosed with meningioma of olfactory groove several years ago. After no improvement, surgery of the left frontal craniotomy keyhole type was conducted. A computed tomography (CT) scan of the skull performed 24 h later showed a neuroimaging that it is described as the silhouette of Mount Fuji. The treatment was conservative and used continuous oxygen for 5 days. Control CT scan demonstrated reduction of the intracranial air with normal brain parenchyma.

Conclusion: The review of the literature, we did not find any cases of tension pneumocephalus documented previously through a supraorbital keyhole approach. There are a few cases reported of patients with Mount Fuji signs that do not require surgical procedures. The conservative treatment in our report leads to clinical and radiological improvement as well as a reduction in hospitalization time.

Keywords: Mount Fuji sign; olfactory meningioma; pneumocephalus; supraorbital keyhole approach; tension pneumocephalus.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Fuji Volcano in Japan (available from internet)
Figure 2
Figure 2
(a) Unenhanced axial computed tomography image of the brain demonstrates bilateral subdural areas of hypoattenuation with compression of both frontal lobes. (b) Postoperative computed tomography bone window image demonstrating the small supraorbital craniotomy
Figure 3
Figure 3
Control computed tomography scan demonstrating normal cerebral parenchyma surface
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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