INTRACRANIAL pneumocephalus (also termed intracranial pneumatocele or aerocele) is an abnormal collection of air within the skull. The term also includes gas formed by putrefactive bacterial infections within the skull, such as occurs in certain abscesses of the brain. The condition is infrequent, but it is not as rare as the number of cases reported in the literature would indicate. Single cases are still considered to be of enough importance and interest to warrant their report, and that is the reason for reporting this case.
REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
Pneumocephalus was first described by Chiari, who noted the presence of air in the cranial cavity during autopsy in a case of purulent ethmoiditis with erosion of bone, in 1884. Luckett, in 1913, was the first to recognize intracranial air roentgenologically. It is only in recent years that its clinical significance has become appreciated. A review of the literature by Killian,