What to Expect from Cranial Base Surgery

What to Expect

Expert teams

When you're facing such a serious surgery, you want a team of experts. The Cranial Base Center is a multispecialty program that combines the talents of surgeons from otolaryngology (neurotology, head and neck oncology, sinus surgery) along with neurosurgery (neuro-oncology and vascular disorders) together with neural monitoring professionals and radiation oncologists to offer comprehensive management of challenging tumors.

Brain-sparing tumor removal

The Stanford Cancer Center Cranial Base Center employs new skull base surgical techniques that are minimally invasive yet still allow access to certain tumors located deep in the brain. These techniques enable optimal tumor removal while preserving brain function to the greatest extent possible.

Regions covered

The regions that are typically considered for cranial base surgery include the roof of the nose and paranasal sinuses, the nasopharynx, cavernous sinus, Meckel's cave, clivus, petrous bone, cerebellopontine angle, jugular foramen, foramen magnum, and the upper cervical spine.

Examples of tumors managed include meningioma, acoustic neuroma, other cranial nerve schwannomas, glomus jugulare, epidermoid, esthesioneuroblastoma, nasopharyngeal carcinoma, and pituitary adenoma.