Journal of Innovative Clinical Trials and Case Reports

Abstract

Collet-Sicard syndrome is characterized by unilateral paralysis of the lower cranial nerves IX, X, XI, and XII, resulting from lesions involving the skull base, particularly the jugular foramen and hypoglossal canal [1]. It was first described in 1915 in a World War I soldier whose radiographic examination revealed metallic bullet fragments at the site of the lesions. The most common etiologies include basilar skull fractures and carotid artery dissections. Malignant conditions are also frequently implicated, including parotid tumors, glomus jugulare tumors, hypoglossal nerve schwannomas, skull base tumors, and metastatic lesions. Other reported causes include jugular vein phlebitis and iatrogenic injuries related to internal jugular vein catheterization, cerebral angiography, cardiac surgery, and cerebral vessel clamping [2]. Infectious and inflammatory etiologies are less common but have been described, including polyarteritis nodosa, Trousseau syndrome, otitis media, Lyme disease, and varicella-zoster infection [2]. To date, only one case of skull base osteomyelitis complicated by Collet-Sicard syndrome has been reported prior to the present case.