Posterior pedicle lateral nasal wall flap: new reconstructive technique for large defects of the skull base.

BACKGROUND: Indications for expanded endoscopic approaches continue to grow, resulting in larger and more complex skull base defects. Reconstructive developments, however, have lagged our extirpative capabilities. As the complexity of clinical scenarios continues to escalate, challenging our current reconstructive strategies, we are compelled to develop alternative techniques to prevent cerebrospinal fluid leaks and protect neurovascular structures. In this article we show the anatomic basis for a new posterior pedicled flap from the lateral wall of the nose (Carrau-Hadad [C-H] flap) for the reconstruction of median skull base defects and present our early clinical experience. METHODS: Using a cadaveric model, we designed a posterior pedicle flap comprising the nasal inferolateral wall mucoperiosteum. We applied this information clinically, to reconstruct transmural skull base defects. RESULTS: In our cadaveric model, we harvested and transposed C-H flaps into various defects of the planum sphenoidale, sella turcica, clivus, and nasopharynx. Then, we used the C-H flap in four patients, successfully reconstructing their clival (n = 3) and sellar (n = 1) surgical defects. All patients healed uneventfully. CONCLUSION: Our anatomic study and early clinical experience support the use of the posterior pedicle lateral nasal wall flap to reconstruct large cranial base defects resulting from endoscopic skull base surgery in properly selected patients.

Anterior pedicle lateral nasal wall flap: a novel technique for the reconstruction of anterior skull base defects.

OBJECTIVES: Expansion of the clinical indications for ablative endoscopic endonasal approaches has behooved us to search for new reconstruction alternatives. We present the anatomic foundations of a novel anterior pedicled lateral wall flap (Hadad-Bassagaisteguy 2 or HB2 flap) for the vascularized reconstruction of anterior skull base defects. STUDY DESIGN: Anatomic description. Feasibility study. Technical report METHODS: Using a cadaveric model, we investigated the feasibility of harvesting an anteriorly based mucoperiosteal flap from the lateral nasal wall. We then applied the techniques developed in the anatomical laboratory to reconstruct two patients with defects resulting from the endoscopic endonasal resection of esthesioneuroblastomas and one patient with an extensive meningoencephalocoele of the anterior cranial fossa. RESULTS: HB2 flaps were harvested and transposed to reconstruct anterior skull base defects in cadaveric specimens, and subsequently, in three patients. The HB2 flap provided adequate coverage in the cadaveric model, as well as clinically in our three patients. Their postoperative healing was uneventful. CONCLUSIONS: The HB2 flap is a feasible alternative for the reconstruction of anterior skull base defects in select patients.

A novel reconstructive technique after endoscopic expanded endonasal approaches: vascular pedicle nasoseptal flap.

BACKGROUND: In patients with large dural defects of the anterior and ventral skull base after endonasal skull base surgery, there is a significant risk of a postoperative cerebrospinal fluid leak after reconstruction. Reconstruction with vascularized tissue is desirable to facilitate rapid healing, especially in irradiated patients. METHODS: We developed a neurovascular pedicled flap of the nasal septum mucoperiosteum and mucoperichondrium based on the nasoseptal artery, a branch of the posterior septal artery (Hadad-Bassagasteguy flap [HBF]). A retrospective review of patients undergoing endonasal skull base surgery at the University of Rosario, Argentina, and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center was performed to identify patients who were reconstructed with a vascularized septal mucosal flap. RESULTS: Forty-three patients undergoing endonasal cranial base surgery were repaired with the septal mucosal flap. Two patients with postoperative cerebrospinal fluid leaks (5%) were successfully treated with focal fat grafts. We encountered no infectious or wound complications in this series of patients. One patient experienced a posterior nose bleed from the posterior nasal artery. This was controlled with electrocautery and the flap blood supply was preserved. CONCLUSION: The HBF is a versatile and reliable reconstructive technique for defects of the anterior, middle, clival, and parasellar skull base. Its use has resulted in a sharp decrease in the incidence of postoperative cerebrospinal fluid leaks after endonasal skull base surgery and is recommended for the reconstruction of large dural defects and when postoperative radiation therapy is anticipated.