Large asymptomatic pneumocephalus developing years after middle cranial fossa surgery-A case report

Whereas acute pneumocephalus has been well characterized in the literature: typically seen postoperatively after neurosurgical and neurotological procedures, a chronic pneumocele developing several years after surgery is highly unusual. Most otogenic pneumocephali develop in an acute or subacute fashion, presenting with focal neurological symptoms, headache or signs of meningitis secondary to translocation of bacteria into the cavity. We describe a patient with a supra-auricular soft-tissue swelling as the only presenting symptom of a large chronic epidural pneumocele with extension into the extracranial subcutaneous tissues. It presented several years after surgical resection of a meningioma that involved the temporal bone.