Repair of spontaneous cerebrospinal fluid otorrhea from defect of middle cranial fossa.

Spontaneous cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) otorrhea is defined as CSF otorrhea where there are no identifiable causes including previous trauma, surgery, infection, neoplasm or congenital anomaly. The condition is rare. The origin of CSF leak is commonly a defect in the tegmen of the middle cranial fossa. The pathophysiology of spontaneous CSF otorrhea is unclear. Two theories of the etiology of bony defects of the temporal bone are the congenital bony defect theory and arachnoid granulation theory. The authors experienced a case of a 49-year-old female patient admitted with the complaint of persistent right ear fullness. Computed tomography revealed a large defect of the middle fossa and suspicious CSF otorrhea through the defect of tegmen tympani. Repair was successful with multiple bone chips using the transmastoid approach. The postoperative course was good and there has been no recurrence of the CSF leakage.