Hindawi Publishing Corporation
Case Reports in Otolaryngology
Volume 2013, Article ID 836064, 5 pages
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/836064
Case Report
Excessive Paranasal Sinuses and Mastoid Aeration as
a Possible Cause of Chronic Headache
Panagiotis Kousoulis,
1
Jiannis Hajiioannou,
1
Vassiliki Florou,
1
Dimitrios Kretzas,
1
and George Korres
2
1
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, General Hospital of Nikea-Piraeus, Greece
2
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, “Attikon” University Hospital of Athens, Greece
Correspondence should be addressed to Panagiotis Kousoulis; pkousoulis@gmail.com
Received 20 September 2013; Accepted 30 October 2013
Academic Editors: A. Rapoport, K. Takano, and A. Tas ¸
Copyright © 2013 Panagiotis Kousoulis et al. his is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution
License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly
cited.
he objective of this case report is to present a patient with chronic headache who was diagnosed with excessive aeration of all
paranasal sinuses and mastoid air cells using computed tomography imaging. he volume and linear measurements of all of the
cavities revealed values greater than the greatest values reported in the literature. To date, this is the second reported case of excessive
enlargement of all paranasal sinuses and the irst which includes the enlargement of the mastoid air cells. No surgical intervention
was required for the patient, but in similar cases, with more severe symptoms, surgical treatment is a challenge for the surgeon and
may mandate a multidisciplinary approach.
1. Introduction
Excessive enlargement of the paranasal sinuses is a rare entity
with an uncertain aetiology. In the medical literature, it
has been described with many terms including hypersinus,
pneumocele, pneumatocoele, sinus ectasia, hyperpneumati-
zation, and pneumosinus dilatans. It usually afects the frontal
sinus, although any sinus can be pathologically enlarged. We
present a case of a patient with chronic headache, diagnosed
with excessive aeration of all paranasal sinuses, together with
atypical mastoid pneumatization. To the authors’ knowledge,
this has not been previously reported in the literature.
2. Case Presentation
A 38-year-old woman was referred for evaluation to the out-
patient otorhinolaryngology clinic by the neurology depart-
ment. he patient complained of intermittent episodes of
moderate, nonthrobbing, and severe pressure-like headache
since early adulthood. he headache was typically located
at the anterior part of the cranium, mainly over the
frontal, the anterior parietal, and temporal area. he symp-
toms usually lasted for hours and were suiciently relieved
by common analgesics such as paracetamol and nonsteroid
anti-inlammatory drugs. he pain was not accompanied by
facial swelling and was not related to head position (bending
forward, lying down, or sitting up). Palpation of the face
and anterior cranium did not reproduce the symptoms and
no palpable or visually evident anatomic deformity was
noted.
Neurologic and ophthalmologic examinations were unre-
markable. Routine laboratory parameters were within nor-
mal range. Nasal endoscopic examination did not reveal
pathologic indings. he nasal septum was slightly deviated
while the maxillary and sphenoid ostia appeared patent.
Although the frontal sinus ostium could not be visualized
endoscopically on either side, no mucosal abnormalities were
apparent at the area of the frontal sinus outlow tract.
A high resolution CT scan revealed that all the paranasal
sinuses and especially the frontal sinuses were excessively
enlarged. Similarly, the mastoid air cells showed bilaterally
excessive pneumatization. No signs of bony erosion or thin-
ning were evident in the CT scan. he frontal sinus extended
posteriorly and laterally, encroaching the ophthalmic bulb.
he frontal lobe appeared to be smaller in size, due to
the posterior enlargement of the frontal sinus. No other