Aneurysmal Bone Cyst of skull Base: a case report and review of literature

Reprint requests to: Dr. Chun-Chung Lui Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital Kaohsiung Medical Center, Chang Gung University College of Medicine. No. 123, Ta Pei Road, Kaohsiung 833, Taiwan, R.O.C. Aneurysmal bone cyst (ABC) infrequently involves the calvarium and is even more unusual at the skull base. The sporadic reported cases of ABC occur primarily in the pediatric or adolescent group. We hereby present a huge aneursymal bone cyst at the skull base in a 40 year-old male present ing with proptosis , decreased v isual acuity and visual field with review of skull base aneurysmal bone cyst from the recent English literature. Aneurysmal bone cyst is usually found in the long bone and f lat bone, only 1% at the skull and even less frequently at the skull base. 70-90% of the time the affected patients are less than 20 years old. We reported the images of a rare case of ABC involving the skull base in a 40 year-old patient and reviewed the reported cases of skull base aneurysmal bone cyst in the recent English literature. The computed tomography of the case shows an extremely large, expansile osteolytic skull base tumor with bubbly appearance and the magnetic resonance imaging demonstrates multiple f luid-fluid levels characteristic of aneurysmal bone cyst.