A CASE OF PNEUMOCEPHALUS CAUSED BY VALSALVA'S MANEUVER FOLLOWING EUSTACHIAN TUBE DYSFUNCTION

Abstract

A 24-year-old man reporting pulsatile tinnitus, ear fullness and hearing loss in the left ear was found to have his external auditory canal obstructed by skin ballooning caused by subdermal air. CT showed pneumocephalus in the extradural space of the posterior fossa and subdermal space of the external auditory canal. After mastoidectomy, we found a pathological bony defect around the sigmoid sinus. The defect was covered With bone paste, then the mastoid cavity was filled using abdominal fat tissue. All symptoms and pneumocephalus disappeared postoperatively. The pneumocephalus was thought to be caused by Valsalva's maneuver following eustachian tube dysfunction.