Recent Advances in Pediatric Skull Base Surgery

Dan M. Fliss, MD

Pediatric skull base tumors are rare, and the majority is chemosensitive but yet surgical treatment plays an important role in their comprehensive treatment. Surgery in this anatomical location is a rapidly expanding field. Even within the subspecialty, there are increasing areas of expertise that further increase the quality of core. Recent years have witnessed technological advancement and the introduction of minimally invasive approaches that improve the outcomes and quality of life of these young patients.

Surgery is now more refined, less radical, and more functional.

This supplement is a summation of experience from leaders and innovators in the field, a guide to further enhance the surgical philosophy and approaches to skull base surgery in children. Effort has been made to cover the many aspects of the developmental anatomy and preoperative planning and further understand how these variants may influence our surgical decisions. Head and neck surgeons, neurosurgeons, plastic and reconstructive surgeons, and maxillofacial surgeons dealing with pediatric skull base surgery will find this supplement an important addition for improving the treatment of pediatric skull base lesions in light of the experience accumulated in the last years.