Türk Nöroşirürji Dergisi 2001 , Vol 11 , Num 2
COMPARISON OF MICROSURGICAL ANATOMY OF THE STANDARD TRANSSPHENOIDAL APPROACH AND THE EXTENDED TRANSSPHENOIDAL APPROACH
Funda BATAY, Aykut KARASU, Ossama AL-MEFTY
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Department of Neurosurgery, Little Rock, Arkansas, USA Transsphenoidal surgery is well-known surgical technique used for sellar and parasellar tumors. By combining a maxillotomy with transsphenoidal approach, significantly wider and safer exposure is gained to the skull base lesions. Lesions extending from the superior sellar region to the foramen magnum may be attacked through extended transsphenoidal approach. In this study, ten cadavers were used, horizontal and vertical distances and amount of exposure were compared for each technique. As a conclusion, these results showed that the additional maxillotomy is well-suited and an effective technique for primarily midline skull base lesions than transsphenoidal surgery and this approach is also provide wider exposure. Anahtar Kelimeler : Maxillotomy, microsurgical anatomy, transsphenoidal approach