Anterior Clival Defect with Primary CSF Rhinorrhea

Abstract

Spontaneous (nontraumatic, nonsurgical) cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) rhinorrhea constitute only 3–4% of all cases. Here, we present a case of a 66-year-old male who presented with spontaneous CSF rhinorrhea, where intraoperative findings revealed an anterior clival defect as the cause. Such cases are extremely rare, and to the best of our knowledge only five of such cases are described in the literature. In this report, we discuss the possible etiology and management of this rare condition.