Yonago Acta medica 2008;51:101–106
Endolymphatic Sac Tumor, A Patient Report
Kensaku Hasegawa, Shingo Murakami*, Masamichi Kurosaki†, Yasuomi Kunimoto, Toshihide Ogawa‡ and Hiroya Kitano
Division of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Department of Medicine of Sensory and Motor Organs, School of Medicine, Tottori University Faculty of Medicine, Yonago 683-8504, *Department of Neuro-otolaryngology, Sensory and Plastic Medicine, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Nagoya City University, Nagoya 467-0601, †Department of Neurosurgery, Institute of Neurological Sciences, Tottori University Faculty of Medicine, Yonago 683-8504 and ‡Division of Radiology, Department of Pathophysiological and Therapeutic Science, School of Medicine, Tottori University Faculty of Medicine, Yonago 683-8504 Japan
Endolymphatic sac tumors are rare low malignant neoplasms of the petrous temporal bone, with symptoms referable to auditory, vestibular or facial nerves, which should be strictly discriminated from benign tumors of the temporal bone. Differential diagnosis between both at the early stages of checkup controls the treatment and prognosis. Complete surgical resection is the treatment of choice, which commonly provides long-term control. We have experienced a 48-year-old man with progressive hearing loss, unsteadiness and constant tinnitus. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) demonstrated a tumor invading the posterior petrous bone, extending to the posterior fossa. In the course of image diagnosis of his disease, we observed diagnostic efficacy of 3-tesla MRI, which showed excellent lesion visualization even in a small-size endolymphatic sac tumor. The intraoperative pathologic diagnosis was not available.
Key words: endolymphatic sac tumor; pathologic diagnosis; temporal bone surgery; 3-tesla magnetic resonance imaging
