Medina surgeons patch fifty-year-old leaky skull

Complications of an old car accident caused a cerebrospinal fluid spill

A Saudi medical team in Medina ended, on Wednesday 2nd of November the suffering of a patient in his fifties who endured a fracture in the base of his skull that caused it to leak cerebrospinal fluid through his nose, in an endoscopic operation that lasted 3 hours.

The Medina Health Assembly (western Saudi Arabia) confirmed that the patient came to the emergency department in a critical condition, semiconscious, and suffering from leakage of cerebrospinal fluid. Clinical examinations were immediately conducted that showed a gap in the base of the skull with swelling inside the cerebral ventricles.

Upon retrieval of his medical history, it was found that the patient had suffered from the consequences of an old traffic accident that led to a depression in the bottom of his skull, the condition developed due to the presence of a tumor within the ventricles of the brain, which led to a blockage and an increase in intracranial pressure.

The medical team which included ENT and neurosurgery specialists at King Salman Medical City decided to perform an operation to remove the tumor and patch the skull base by locating it through cerebral navigation. The team confirmed that the patient's health condition has stabilized and is recuperating at the hospital.