CT and MR imaging studies were performed in a 3-year-old boy with infantile fibromatosis arising from the infratemporal fossa and extending into the middle cranial fossa. On CT scans, the lesion was hyperattenuating (44-49 Hounsfield units [HU]), enhancing significantly after application of contrast material (63-66 HU). The MR images showed a multilobulated lesion of heterogeneous signal intens...

Visual inspection of a dry adult human skull revealed absence of a typical foramen ovale on the left side of the cranial base. The region of the foramen ovale was covered by an osseous lamina, which was continuous with the lateral pterygoid plate and thus formed a wall of an apparent canal, which opened on the lateral side of the pterygoid process. This canal is referred to as an oval canal (ca...

T he infratemporal fossa (ITF) is a rare anatomic site for abscess formation. Infections in this space have been found following maxillary sinusitis, maxillary sinus fracture, temporomandibular arthroscopy, dental infection, and tooth extraction. The ITF is bounded superiorly by the sphenoid bone, medially by the lateral pterygoid plate, anteriorly by the maxilla, posteriorly by the deep paroti...

We report a case of giant cell tumor of the temporal bone invading into the pterygoid muscle through the temporomandibular joint. The patient was a 43-year-old woman who developed left ear fullness 2 years earlier with a mass in the external auditory canal. Radiologic evaluation revealed extension into the infratemporal fossa and confirmed that the tumor was invading into pterygoid muscle. A mi...

Morphological integration and modularity are important points of intersection between evolution and the development of organismal form. Identification and quantification of integration are also of increasing paleoanthropological interest. In this study, the "posterior face," i.e., the mandibular ramus and its integration with the associated midline and lateral basicranium, is analyzed in latera...

AIM The anatomic characters and applicability of the extended pterional transtemporal transtentorial (EPTT) approach versus the subtemporal transtentorial (ST) approach for surgical treatment of petroclival tumors were evaluated. MATERIAL AND METHODS Ten sides from five adult Chinese injected cadavers were manipulated using both two approaches. Four deep bony anatomic landmarks were specified...

We reported a rare case of hemorrhagic epidermoid cyst located in the anterior cranial fossa. A 66-year-old female presented with progressive nausea and vomiting for one month. Computed tomography revealed a mixed high and low density mass in the right lateral frontal basal region, with a few stippled calcifications at its inferior wall. Magnetic resonance imaging showed that the lesion was lar...

PURPOSE To describe a case of trans-orbital intra-cranial air gun injury with a discussion on air gun related morbidity and mortality. METHODS Case report and literature review. RESULTS The air gun pellet travelled through the orbit without penetrating the globe. It passed into the middle cranial fossa through the superior orbital fissure and lodged in the temporal lobe. The patient was man...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate surgical results using the middle cranial fossa approach for hearing preservation vestibular schwannoma surgery. STUDY DESIGN Retrospective case review. SETTING Tertiary referral academic center. PATIENTS Seventy-three consecutive patients with vestibular schwannoma operated on using the middle cranial fossa approach between February 1999 and February 2005. INTERVE...