Spontaneous intracranial hypotension (SIH) is caused by single or multiple cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leaks in the spine with the prototypical symptom of postural headache. One of the characteristic MRI features in SIH is intracranial venous engorgement. This report presents a case of SIH with engorgement of the bilateral superior ophthalmic veins (SOVs) which resume their normal diameters by the third day of successful epidural blood patches (EBPs). We define this phenomenon as the "reversal of the SOV" sign.
Aged ; *Blood Patch, Epidural ; Cerebrospinal Fluid Rhinorrhea/*complications ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Humans ; Intracranial Hypotension/*diagnosis/etiology/*therapy ; *Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Orbit/*blood supply

An unusual case of spontaneous cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) rhinorrhea with a pneumocephalus is described in a middle-aged woman who presented with a watery nasal discharge for 1 week and headache, vomiting, and fever for 1 day. The neurological examination revealed meningeal signs and bilateral papilledema. The CSF picture suggested pyogenic meningitis, and computed tomography of the brain revealed pneumocephalus. Diagnostic nasal endoscopy showed outpouching of the dura from the left olfactory cleft with a CSF leak and granular nasal mucosa. The defect was repaired surgically, and a biopsy of that area revealed granulomatous changes suggestive of tuberculosis. The patient recovered completely with standard four-drug antitubercular therapy. To our knowledge spontaneous CSF rhinorrhea with pneumocephalus occurring secondary to nasal tuberculosis has not been previously reported.
Antitubercular Agents/therapeutic use ; Biopsy ; Cerebrospinal Fluid Rhinorrhea/diagnosis/*etiology/therapy ; Endoscopy ; Female ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Nose Diseases/*complications/diagnosis/microbiology/therapy ; Otorhinolaryngologic Surgical Procedures ; Pneumocephalus/diagnosis/*etiology/therapy ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Treatment Outcome ; Tuberculosis/*complications/diagnosis/microbiology/therapy