Abstract

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to report our results of surgical treatment under neuronavigation system.

METHODS: Data related to the disease, intraoperative findings, postoperative follow-up and demographic characteristics of a total of nine patients (6 males, 3 females; mean age 45 years) who underwent surgery using (n=6) and without using navigation system (n=3) were collected in Başkent University Adana Research and Application Center between February 2013 and March 2014. Preoperative tomography scans of the neuronavigation used patients were loaded on the navigation system. The relation between surgical field and surrounding tissue was assessed after calibration of the navigation. Among the navigation patients, one underwent endoscopic cerebrospinal fluid rhinorrhea surgery, three mass excisions from sphenoid sinus, one clivus chordoma excision, and one glomus jugulare excision from the skull base. In two sphenoid sinus masses of the control patients were approached by traditional endoscopic sinus surgery and these operations resulted in an inadequate excision. No surgery-related problem was observed during surgery.

RESULTS: Postoperative imaging showed that the near total reaching to target was accomplished. Based on the postoperative imaging, there was a residual tumor in the jugular fossa after the skull base glomus jugulare surgery in the control group.

CONCLUSION: Our study results show that the neuronavigation-guided surgery of the skull base and sphenoid sinus is a safe and effective method in the total or near-total removal of the mass.