Endoscopic endonasal resection of olfactory tract hamartoma for pediatric epilepsy

Non-hypothalamic glioneural hamartomas are rare entities known to cause medically refractory epilepsy. Olfactory bulb hamartomas, in particular, are exceptionally rare.

We describe a case of an olfactory bulb hamartoma that was surgically resected at our institution. We also performed a literature review of all glioneural hamartomas and discuss the clinical presentation, diagnosis, and management of these lesions.

Herein, we present the unusual case of a typically developing 17-year-old boy with a near life-long history of drug-resistant epilepsy, found to have a 0.8 × 1.0 cm right olfactory bulb hamartoma. Endoscopic endonasal trans-cribriform resection of the lesion led to seizure freedom in the 6-month follow-up period (Engel class 1 outcome). Comprehensive literature review revealed only one other sporadic case, which was also successfully treated with total surgical resection.

Our case of an olfactory bulb hamartoma adds to the limited literature currently available, illustrating key clinical characteristics of these exceedingly rare lesions and outlining an effective, minimally invasive, and low-morbidity treatment strategy.