BACKGROUND To evaluate the efficacy of using a galeopericranial flap for reconstruction of anterior cranial base defects. METHODS In Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital from February 1994 to November 2003, 25 patients who had tumors of the skull base underwent craniofacial resection, and a galeopericranial flap was used to reconstruct the anterior cranial base defect. The galeopericranial fla...

OBJECTIVE To offer an algorithm for airway management in anterior skull base surgery. METHODS This is a retrospective review of 109 patients undergoing major anterior skull base surgery from a single senior surgeon's experience from September 1997 to May 2006. RESULTS We report only one (1%) postoperative mortality in this series and only seven major complications in six patients, including...

OBJECTIVES/HYPOTHESIS Endoscopic endonasal skull base surgery defects require effective reconstruction. Although the nasoseptal flap (NSF) has become our institution's workhorse for large skull base defects with cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leaks, situations where it is unavailable require secondary flaps. Clinical outcomes, pearls and pitfalls, and an algorithm will be presented for these seconda...

BACKGROUND Modern microsurgical techniques enable en bloc resection of complex skull base tumors. Anterior cranial base surgery, particularly, has been associated with a high rate of postoperative cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leak, meningitis, intracranial abscess, and pneumocephalus. We introduce simple modifications to already existing surgical strategies designed to minimize the incidence of po...

Treatment goals following skull base surgery have shifted over the last decade to improving functional outcomes and quality of life. Given the intimacy of skull base tumors to vital structures, the potential for morbidity, functional impairments, and a decline in quality of life after surgery is possible. The endoscopic endonasal approach may have potential functional outcome and quality of lif...