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Inflammatory pseudotumour involving the skull base and cervical spine

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 March 2006

Yang-Sun Cho
Affiliation:
Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Seoul, Korea
Sung-Min Kim
Affiliation:
Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Seoul, Korea
Won Ho Chung
Affiliation:
Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Seoul, Korea
Sung Hwa Hong
Affiliation:
Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Samsung Medical Center, Seoul, Korea

Abstract

Inflammatory pseudotumour (IPT) is an idiopathic condition characterized by sclerosing inflammation, which mimics a neoplastic process. IPT involving the skull base and cervical spine is distinctly rare and usually indistinguishable from aggressive neoplasms or infection. We report a case of IPT involving the skull base and cervical spine. Initially the patient complained of headache and hearing loss without other neurological dysfunction. Two cycles of oral systemic steroid therapy resulted in only partial responses. Low dose radiotherapy was followed by quadriparesis as the lesion infiltrated into the cervical vertebral bodies. Subsequently a second course of radiation was administered to the whole cervical spine. Marked improvement was observed clinically and radiologically; however, the patient gradually deteriorated and died of sepsis. Given the aggressive nature of disease and the complications related to the long-term treatment, we suggest that a more aggressive therapeutic approach is suitable in extensive IPT of the skull base.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© Royal Society of Medicine Press Limited 2001

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