When an encephalocele is at the front — the forehead, the area between the eyes, or the nose — it's called an anterior encephalocele, and the frontoethmoidal type is one of the most common anterior forms. These types are more common in parts of Southeast Asia than in the West.
What it looks like
Frontoethmoidal encephaloceles appear near the bridge of the nose, the area between the eyebrows (glabella), or the inner corner of the eye. A common associated feature is hypertelorism — eyes that are spaced more widely apart than usual — because the protruding sac pushes the eye sockets apart.
Why anterior location often means a different outlook
Compared with occipital (back) encephaloceles, anterior types more often contain smaller amounts of brain tissue and are less frequently associated with severe brain problems. As a result, the neurological outlook for anterior encephaloceles is often more favorable. The main challenges tend to be facial appearance and reconstruction rather than severe brain involvement — though, as always, this varies by individual.
The role of craniofacial reconstruction
Because anterior encephaloceles affect the face, repair often involves both neurosurgery (to close the brain coverings and bony defect safely) and craniofacial/plastic surgery (to reconstruct the forehead, nose, and eye region and to correct hypertelorism). Encouragingly, when anterior encephaloceles are repaired in infancy or early childhood, the facial skeleton can remodel and grow considerably over time.
Vision and the eyes
Anterior encephaloceles near the eyes can affect eye spacing and, less commonly, vision. Vision is often preserved depending on how much herniation there is, but ophthalmology evaluation is part of comprehensive care.
Sources
- StatPearls (NCBI Bookshelf) — Encephalocele (anterior types)
- Journal of Integrative Neuroscience — craniofacial encephalocele management
- NORD — Encephalocele
- CHOP — Encephalocele