Extensive and symptomatic cranial pneumatization: caused by frequent performance of Valsalva's manoeuvre?

Abstract

AbstractPneumocranium and spontaneous pneumocephalus are very rare disorders. We report a case in which the patient had suffered for some time from neck pain and neurological symptoms which originated from an extensively pneumatized cranium. The symptoms and the abnormal bone pneumatization disappeared after normalization of a high middle-ear pressure. The history and the findings suggest that the pathological pneumatization was caused by the patient's habit of frequently performing Valsalva's manoeuvre, in combination with the Eustachian tube functioning as a valve.