Lateral suboccipital retrosigmoid retrocondylar approach for foramen magnum meningiomas

Jose Carlos Lynch; Mariangela Barbi Gonçalves; Celestino Esteves Pereira; Leonardo Welling

doi:10.4103/jcvjs.JCVJS_38_18

Lateral suboccipital retrosigmoid retrocondylar approach for foramen magnum meningiomas

J Craniovertebr Junction Spine. 2018 Jul-Sep;9(3):175-181. doi: 10.4103/jcvjs.JCVJS_38_18.

Authors

Jose Carlos Lynch¹, Mariangela Barbi Gonçalves², Celestino Esteves Pereira¹, Leonardo Welling³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neurosurgery, Copa D'or Hospital, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
² Department of Neurosurgery, Public Servants Hospital, Paraná, Brazil.
³ Department of Neurosurgery, University of Ponta Grossa, Paraná, Brazil.

Abstract

Objective: The objective of the study was to describe our approach and the surgical technique and analyze its safety and the outcome for foramen magnum meningiomas (FMMs).

Methods: From 1986 to 2016, 15 FMM patients were operated on using the lateral suboccipital retrocondylar approach.

Results: In this series, there were 12 (80%) female and 3 (20%) male patients. The patients ranged in age from 33 to 63 years. There was no operative dead, but two patients died during the follow-up period, which varied from 1 to 24 years (mean, 10.2 years). Twelve patients (80%) achieved Glasgow Outcome Scale 4 or 5. Gross total resection was achieved in 13 (86.6.7%) patients.

Conclusions: The majority of FMM can be safely removed using the lateral suboccipital retrocondylar approach without condylar resection, associated to meticulous microsurgical technique.

Keywords: Foramen magnum; foramen magnum meningiomas; microsurgery; retrocondylar approach; suboccipital approach.