Tuberkulöse Osteomyelitis des Klivus mit Beteiligung des Nasopharynx

Skull base and calvarial tuberculosis presenting as chronic meningitis

Calvarial tuberculosis is very rare accounting for 0.2-1.3% of skeletal tuberculosis. Diagnosis is also challenging in these areas due to insidious onset of presentation, low bacterial loads in these sites and unapproachable locations for sample collection. Rarely these patients may presents with features of meningitis when the adjacent meninges are involved. Here we describe a case where tubercular involvement of sphenoid, clivus, and frontal bone, who presented as chronic meningitis and diagnosis was made on the basis of radiological and histopathological findings. All the lesions almost resolved following antitubercular treatment at 5 months follow up. A high index of suspicion is needed for early diagnosis and management of this condition.

Clival Osteomyelitis with Cavernous Sinus Thrombosis Due to Fusobacterium nucleatum and Campylobacter rectus Induced by Tooth Extraction

A 70-year-old woman who had suffered from aseptic meningitis complained of chronic headache after dental treatment including tooth extraction. She developed a fever and respiratory failure. Based on chest computed tomography and head magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), she was diagnosed with osteomyelitis in the clivus accompanying moderate pituitary involvement, cavernous sinus thrombosis and septic pulmonary embolism. Both of the causal bacteria, Fusobacterium nucleatum and Campylobacter rectus, were isolated from her blood. Dual infection leading to clival osteomyelitis and cavernous sinus thrombosis has not been reported. It is important to perform enhanced MRI and blood culture for patients with chronic headache related to dental treatment.

Two immigrants with tuberculosis of the ear, nose, and throat region with skull base and cranial nerve involvement

We report two immigrants with tuberculosis of the skull base and a review of the literature. A Somalian man presented with bilateral otitis media, hearing loss, and facial and abducens palsy. Imaging showed involvement of both mastoid and petrous bones, extending via the skull base to the nasopharynx, suggesting tuberculosis which was confirmed by characteristic histology and positive auramine staining, while Ziehl-Neelsen staining and PCR were negative. A Sudanese man presented with torticollis and deviation of the uvula due to paresis of N. IX and XI. Imaging showed a retropharyngeal abscess and lysis of the clivus. Histology, acid-fast staining, and PCR were negative. Both patients had a positive Quantiferon TB Gold in-tube result and improved rapidly after empiric treatment for tuberculosis. Cultures eventually yielded M. tuberculosis. These unusual cases exemplify the many faces of tuberculosis and the importance to include tuberculosis in the differential diagnosis of unexplained problems.

[CT and MRI of intrinsic space-occupying lesions of the bony skull base]

Intrinsic bony lesions of the skull base are diseases which arise within the bones forming the skull base. Mainly they are bone tumours and tumour-like lesions. With the exception of osteomas of the paranasal sinuses and exostoses of the external auditory canal, these lesions occur rarely. This article gives an overview of the appearance of the most common primary bony skull base masses in CT and MRI. From the authors' point of view these are fibrous dysplasia, chordomas, chondrosarcomas, Langerhans cell histiocytosis and multiple myelomas, which must be differentiated from pseudolesions. The possibilities of CT and MRI in making a specific diagnosis, differential diagnosis and the kind of making the final diagnosis are described.