Assessing the Etiology of Cavernous Sinus Syndrome

The findings of this retrospective case series, though reassuring, are largely made moot by modern neuroradiological scanning techniques.

To try to distinguish among the various causes of cavernous sinus syndrome (CSS), these authors retrospectively reviewed records of 126 patients at a single hospital from 1990 to 2005, whom the researchers judged to have symptoms indicating CSS — periocular pain, paresthesias, diplopia, and cranial nerve involvement. All patients had neuroradiological studies performed, but given the time frame studied, some scans were less informative than those that can be obtained today.

Important clinical features separated tumors, vascular abnormalities, and Tolosa-Hunt syndrome (THS), the three main causes of CSS. Facial paresthesias (involving cranial nerve V2) and optic nerve involvement were associated almost exclusively with tumors; MRI generally d…

Reviewing Author

Don C. Bienfang, MD