Abducens Nerve Palsy Caused by Cavernous Sinus Meningioma Mimicking Tolosa-Hunt Syndrome

Abstract

Purpose: To report a case of abducens nerve palsy caused by cavernous sinus meningioma mimicking Tolosa-Hunt syndrome (THS).Case summary: A 59-year-female visited to the ophthalmic department for sudden onset of horizontal diplopia for 20 days. The extraocular examination showed 10 prism diopters (PD) esotropia at distant fixation and ortho at near fixation without definitive abduction limitation. At 2 months of follow-up, she showed the 25 PD left esotropia with abduction limitation of the left eye. The ocular pain and headache were newly developed. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with contrast was performed and revealed the enlargement and enhancement of left cavernous sinus. THS was suspected and high dose steroid treatment was performed. The ocular findings and headache were improved after treatment. These symptoms showed waxing and waning with steroid tapering during follow-up. The follow-up MRI showed no definitive improvement of cavernous sinus lesion compared with previous study. The cavernous sinus meningioma was considered. There was no improvement of ocular motility findings during follow-up and the strabismus surgery was performed.Conclusions: The abducens nerve palsy with headache can occur caused by cavernous sinus meningioma. It may be difficult to differentiate it from THS in certain cases.