Combined Petrosectomy with Retrosigmoid Craniotomy for a Recurrent Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma: An Illustrative Case Report

Background: This is a case of 45-year-old female who is a known case of nasopharyngeal carcinoma. The patient has had prior chemotherapy and radiotherapy and is now presenting with signs of cerebellopontine compression due to local tumoral growth.

Observations: Salvage surgical therapy after maximal chemotherapy and radiotherapy is an option for patients presenting with local tumoral growth with signs of brain compression. In this particular case report, we advocate the use of three corridors namely the anterior and posterior petrosectomy as well as a retrosigmoid craniotomy to maximize the resection of the tumor.

Lessons: The choice of approach needs to be tailored to the degree of tumoral invasion and the parts of the skull base with the goal in mind of safe maximal resection to improve the patient’s quality of life. Using several approaches can effectively reduce extradural and intradural tumor burden. Knowledge and mastery of different skull base approaches is necessary to have a good repertoire of surgical corridors that can adequately be combined to maximize resection. Furthermore, monitoring and postoperative multidisciplinary care is necessary to identify the next steps in these highly morbid diseases.

Publication History

Article published online:
05 February 2024