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.
