Chondrosarcoma of the skull base in Maffucci's syndrome

Maffucci syndrome and intracranial chondrosarcomas: a case report featuring spontaneous resolution of sixth nerve palsy

Maffucci syndrome is a rare disease process characterized by enchondromatosis with cutaneous hemangiomatosis. We report a 20-year-old woman with Maffucci syndrome with a 5-day history of diplopia. She was found to have a left sixth nerve palsy due to a parasellar chondrosarcoma. Three weeks later, the patient's diplopia spontaneously resolved. This unusual clinical course prompted us to review frequency of sixth nerve palsy with skull base neoplasms and the phenomenon of spontaneous resolution of diplopia.

Endoscopic Endonasal Approach in Skull Base Chondrosarcoma Associated with Maffucci Syndrome: Case Series and Literature Review

BACKGROUND

Maffucci syndrome is a nonhereditary disorder in which patients develop multiple enchondromas and cutaneous, visceral, or soft tissue hemangiomas. The potential malignant progression of enchondroma into a secondary chondrosarcoma is a well-known fact. Nevertheless, chondrosarcoma located at the skull base in patients with Maffuci syndrome is a very rare condition, with only 18 cases reported in the literature.

CASE DESCRIPTION

We report 2 other cases successfully treated through an expanded endoscopic endonasal approach and discuss the condition based on the literature review.

CONCLUSIONS

Skull base chondrosarcoma associated with Maffucci syndrome is a rare condition. The disease cannot be cured, therefore surgical treatment should be performed in symptomatic patients aiming for maximal tumor resection with function preservation. The endoscopic endonasal approach is a safe and reliable alternative for the management of these tumors.

Diagnosis and microsurgical treatment of chondromas and chondrosarcomas of the cranial base

Chondromas and chondrosarcomas of the cranial base are rare neoplastic diseases. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the diagnosis and microsurgical treatment of these difficult cranial base tumors. A total of 19 patients who underwent microsurgery were pathologically diagnosed with cranial base chondromas or chondrosarcomas and their clinical data was reviewed. The chondromas and chondrosarcomas of the cranial base in the present study commonly originated in the sphenopetrosal, sphenoclival or petroclival junctions, and the majority were located in the parasellar region of the middle cranial base extradurally. The most frequent symptoms were headaches and cranial nerve palsy, and the Karnofsky performance score (KPS), assessed pre-operatively, averaged at 87.1. A frontotemporal or preauricular subtemporal-infratemporal approach was used in 11 cases, a tempo-occipital transtentorial or presigmoid supratentorial-infratentorial approach was employed in six further cases, and the far-lateral or retrosigmoid approach was applied in the remaining two cases. A total or near-total tumor removal was secured in 13 cases, while a subtotal removal was obtained in another five and a partial removal was achieved in one case. The most common post-operative complications included cranial nerve palsy and cerebrospinal fluid leakage, but there were no post-operative fatalities. A total of 15 patients were followed up for a mean of 67.2 months (range, 5–140 months), and 13 (76.5%) of these patients were living normal lives (KPS, 80–90). There were two patients with recurrent tumors. The neuroradiological examinations and the presenting symptoms and signs allow the pre-operative diagnosis to be presumed for the majority of cranial base chondromas or chondrosarcomas. Surgical resection is the key treatment for these tumors, and this treatment is known to improve the survival rates.

[CT and MRI of intrinsic space-occupying lesions of the bony skull base]

Intrinsic bony lesions of the skull base are diseases which arise within the bones forming the skull base. Mainly they are bone tumours and tumour-like lesions. With the exception of osteomas of the paranasal sinuses and exostoses of the external auditory canal, these lesions occur rarely. This article gives an overview of the appearance of the most common primary bony skull base masses in CT and MRI. From the authors' point of view these are fibrous dysplasia, chordomas, chondrosarcomas, Langerhans cell histiocytosis and multiple myelomas, which must be differentiated from pseudolesions. The possibilities of CT and MRI in making a specific diagnosis, differential diagnosis and the kind of making the final diagnosis are described.