Lesions confined to the sphenoid ridge: differential diagnosis and surgical treatment.

Tumors confined to the sphenoid ridge with little or no extradiploic extension are very rare; we describe here five patients with these lesions. Three were females and two males, with an average age of 33.4 years; the clinical presentation included proptosis and facial deformity. The diagnoses were three meningiomas (one "en plaque," one globous, and one intraosseous) and two fibrous dysplasias (compact form). Although the radiological findings were similar, we could find some details to establish the differential diagnosis before the surgical procedure. All the lesions were totally removed without complications. In a follow-up period of 15 to 36 months none of the lesions has shown clinical or radiological evidence of recurrence. We discuss the pathophysiology of each case, and propose the pterional orbito-zygomatic approach as the best way to resect lesions in this location.