Aggressive, Multidisciplinary Staged Microsurgical Resection of a Giant Cervicomedullary Junction Chordoma.

Chordomas of the cranial base are locally destructive tumors since they are surrounded by significant complex neurovascular structures. Thus, their surgical removal is challenging, recurrence rates are high, and their therapeutic strategies remain controversial. In this video, we present a 47-year-old man with a recent onset of swallowing difficulties, hoarseness, and weight loss for several weeks. In the neurological examination, he had complete paralysis of the 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th cranial nerves. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed a heterogeneously enhancing expansile invasive mass lesion centered within the clivus and involving the C1, the occipitocervical junction, the retropharynx, and the hypoglossal canal. The decision was made to proceed with multiple staged surgeries. In the first surgical stage, we performed a mastoidectomy with the infralabyrinthine approach to perform a test clip ligation of the sigmoid sinus and to resect the tumor component that extended into the infralabyrinthine space. In the second stage, we performed a far-lateral transcondylar approach for tumor resection and occipitocervical fusion. In the third stage, we used a transoral approach with endoscopic assistance to complete the excision of the remaining tumor in the retropharyngeal space and anterior aspect of C1 and C2 bodies that were not accessible in the first two stages. The surgeries and postoperative course were uneventful. Postoperative MRI showed a gross total resection of the tumor. Histopathology indicated a chordoma. The patient subsequently received proton radiotherapy and has continued to do well without recurrence at 14 months' follow-up. The link to the video can be found at: https://youtu.be/uP9OSlKg_rE .

Gross Total Resection of a Jugular Foramen Thyroid Medullary Metastasis via a Transjugular Transsigmoid Approach.

Surgical resection of jugular foramen tumors poses a significant challenge to skull base surgeons with the selection of an appropriate surgical approach, a matter of some debate. Jugular foramen metastatic tumors may mimic paragangliomas, and in some selected cases surgical resection is needed. In this video, we demonstrate the microsurgical gross total resection of a jugular foramen tumor via a postauricular trans-jugular trans-sigmoid approach. The patient is a 61-year-old man with a 7-year history of medullary thyroid cancer, who underwent three neck operations and radiation to the neck. He developed lower cranial nerve palsies (IX, X, and XI) with preoperative aspiration deficits, dysphonia, status post phonosurgery for vocal cord paralysis, profound sensorineural hearing loss, and muscle atrophy of the left shoulder. He initially received stereotactic radiation of the jugular foramen tumor at an outside hospital without histopathological diagnosis. Follow-up magnetic resonance images (MRIs) showed progressive enlargement of the tumor over the postradiation year. The decision was made to resect this tumor to enable histopathological diagnosis, and to provide local tumor control, since his primary disease has been stable. He underwent microsurgical gross total resection via a transjugular transsigmoid approach. After skeletonizing the sigmoid sinus and jugular bulb, the sigmoid sinus was ligated and rolled toward the jugular bulb, where the major part of the tumor was. Then, using the transjugular route, the tumor was removed en bloc. The surgery and postoperative course were uneventful. The histopathology was a thyroid medullary cancer metastasis. He was followed with serial MRIs, and there was no recurrent tumor at 2 years follow-up. In this video, microsurgical techniques and important steps for the resection of a jugular foramen metastatic tumor are demonstrated. The link to the video can be found at: https://youtu.be/oXC6fX2CC84 .

Retromandibular fossa approach to the high cervical internal carotid artery: an anatomic study.

OBJECTIVE: Access to the high cervical internal carotid artery (ICA) is technically challenging for the treatment of lesions in and around this region. The aims of this study were to analyze the efficacy of approaching the high cervical ICA through the retromandibular fossa and to compare preauricular and postauricular incisions. In addition, the relevant neural and vascular structures of this region are demonstrated in cadaveric dissections. METHODS: The retromandibular fossa approach was performed in four arterial and venous latex-injected cadaveric heads and necks (eight sides) via preauricular and postauricular incisions. This approach included three steps: 1) sternocleidomastoid muscle dissection; 2) transparotid dissection; and 3) removal of the styloid apparatus and opening of the retromandibular fossa to expose the cervical ICA with the internal jugular vein along with Cranial Nerves X, XI, and XII. RESULTS: The posterior belly of the digastric muscle and the styloid muscles were the main obstacles to reaching the high cervical ICA. The high cervical ICA was successfully exposed through the retromandibular fossa in all specimens. In all specimens, the cervical ICA exhibited an S-shaped curve in the retromandibular fossa. The external carotid artery was located more superficially than the ICA in all specimens. The average length of the ICA in the retromandibular fossa was 6.8 cm. CONCLUSION: The entire cervical ICA can be exposed via the retromandibular fossa approach without neural and vascular injury by use of meticulous dissection and good anatomic knowledge. Mandibulotomy is not necessary for adequate visualization of the high cervical ICA.