Application of skull base techniques to pediatric neurosurgery

Techniques for skull base surgery have become well established over the last 10 years. Most of these techniques are used in adult patients for skull base tumors and neurovascular diseases. There are very few large series of pediatric patients in whom skull base approaches have been used, because of the rarity of these conditions. The authors would like to present a relatively large series of 26 pediatric patients who underwent skull base approaches for tumor resection. These tumors involved the anterior cranial base in 5 patients, the medial cranial skull base in 4 patients, and the posterior cranial base in 12 cases. Five patients had tumors that involved two or more fossae. The overall complication rate was 57%, which included temporary cranial nerve palsies, CSF leak and infection. Patients with permanent complications were 8 in number (37%). There was 1 postoperative death from pneumonia approximately 6 weeks after surgery. Complete tumor removal was achieved in 24 of the 26 patients. Skull base tumors in children are often extensive and present significant surgical challenges. Although complete tumor extirpation is the goal in most pediatric patients, this is often achieved only with some morbidity. This paper demonstrates the effectiveness of skull base approaches for these tumors and underscores the high stakes involved.