The only CSF leaks that I have had were noticed at the time of FESS and
were repaired right then and there.  I will admit that I have not seen or
heard or read about a delayed CSF leak after septoplasty, but to me it is
very plausible that this could occur--meaning that it was there at the time
of surgery but was not recognized and in fact would not necesssarily be
appreciated for some time after the surgery--thus the delayed
categorization.  It's sort of like post surgical persistence of tumor that
becomes evident later--is this really recurrence or was residual tumor not
recognized at the time of the original surgery?   Rick Haydon


>The CSF leak that I have had after endoscopic sinus surgery which I did not
>recognize during surgery was noticed immediately after surgery, the other
>CSF leak I have repaired after FESS was noted in the weeks after surgery,
>another CSF leak occuring after septorhinoplasty that I have seen also
>occurred immediately after surgery.
>
>I would be interested to know the CSF leaks that other surgeons have seen
>that were delayed after nasal or sinus surgery.  I know of none reported in
>the literature.  I have certainly repaired two spontaneous CSF leaks that in
>no way could have been related to surgery but one was in the sphenoid sinus
>and the other as in the anterior cranial fossa.
>
>
>Jim Bartley
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>At 07:04 AM 9/14/98 -0400, you wrote:
>>this is a very rare complication of septoplasty.  I've read the other
>>comments and generally agree with most all of them.  But to say that it is
>>not related to the septoplasty because it was delayed is nonsense.  Rick
>>Haydon
>>
>>
>>
>>>I've recently seen a patient who had a CSF leak, with a fistula in the
>>>cribriform plate, confirmed by Neurosurgical exploration.
>>>
>>>She thinks it is due to a previous Septoplasty, with no ethmoid surgery,
>>>and wants to sue the ENT surgeon.
>>>
>>>Has anyone ever seen or heard of this?
>>>--
>>>*****************************************************************
>>>Mr. Stephen Kleid    FRACS   ENT/HN Surgeon
>>>26 Balaclava Rd,  St. Kilda,  Vic  3183,  AUSTRALIA
>>>Ph    +61 3 9526-5527
>>>Fax   +61 3 9525-9544
>>>e-mail    [log in to unmask]
>>>*****************************************************************
>>
>>
>>
>>





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