OBJECTIVETo discuss the best surgical approach to the skull base neoplasms.

METHODSRetrospective analysis the 79 skull base neoplasms cases treated with surgical resection in Qilu hospital of Shandong university from 1992 to 2002. Eleven surgical approaches including midfacial degloving, frontal coronal discission, nasal eversion, maxillary swing, partial maxillary resection, total resection of orbit, mandibular swing, combination of front, temple, preauricular, post aureum, neck, and transoral approaches were used to resect the tumor which involved fossae pterygopalatine, paranasal sinuses, nasopharynx, antero, meso and posterobasilar region, lobi frontalis and lobi temporalis of cerebrum.

RESULTSSeventy-nine skull base neoplasms were totally removed and no one died from the operation. Although 5 cases complicated with cerebrospinal fluid leak and all recovered within 1 week, no serious cranium-cerebrum complication occurred. In 29 patients with benign tumor including 11 cases of meningioma, 3 cases of chondroma, 1 case of hemangio-meningioma, 1 case of cavernous hemangioma, 2 cases of osteodysplasia fibromas, 9 cases of neurofibroma, 1 case of glomus jugular tumor, 1 case of neurilemmoma, 19 have survived over 5 years and the longest one has survived over 8 years. For 50 patients with malignant tumor including 3 cases of well-differentiated squamous cell carcinoma, 17 cases of moderately differentiated squamous cell carcinoma, 11 cases of poorly differentiated squamous cell carcinoma, 1 case of undifferentiated carcinoma, 2 cases of chondrosarcoma, 5 cases of canceration of papilloma, 2 cases of adenocarcinoma, 1 case of esthesioneuroblastoma, 2 cases of malignant fibrohistiocytoma, 1 case of fibrosarcoma, 2 cases of malignant mixed tumour, 3 cases of sarcoma survival rates of 3 and 5 years were 59.2% (29/49), 38.5% (10/26) respectively.

CONCLUSIONIn order to resect the tumor completely and reduce the complication and malformation as far as possible, different surgical approaches must be designed according to the pathological changes characters and involved area,and the surgeon should select the shortest approach, avoid to damage the important neurovascular structure, and resect the tumor through the natural anatomy space by the shelter incision.