• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.165-168
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• 2008

The location of ganglioglioma (GG) within the infratentorial compartment is unusual. The authors report a rare case of GG in the cerebellar hemisphere. A 12-year-old boy suffered from headache and gait disturbance. Neuroimaging studies demonstrated a large enhancing cerebellar mass with cystic components compressing the forth ventricle. After complete resection of the tumor, the patient became symptom free. Histological examination on the tumor disclosed glial cells and dysplastic ganglion cells. Although it is a rare tumor, in the appropriate clinical setting, a GG should be considered in the presence of a cerebellar mass with both solid and cystic components on magnetic resonance images in children.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.221-226
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• 1993

Hamangiopericytoma, first described by Stout & Murray in 1942, is a rare vascular tumor composed of spindle-shaped or rounded cells proliferating around endothelial lined capillaries. These proliferating cells were belived to arise from the pericytes of Zimmerman. Histologically, this tumor demonstrates great variability and clinical course cannot be predicted from the histological appearance. Head and Neck hemangiopericytoma appears to have a lower grade malignancy with frequent local recurrency and metastasis, therefore, aggressive surgical therapy should be the treatment of choice. We experienced a case of hemangiopericytoma occurred in the right skull base at submastoideal and suboccipital area presenting as neck mass in upper occipital triangle in a 42 years old female patient and we report it with a review of literatures.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.441-444
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• 2010

Fibrous dysplasia (FD) of craniofacial structures is well documented, however, its involvement of the clivus is seldom described. We report a case of clival FD in a young man who presented with headache localized to the occipital area. The radiological studies revealed a monostotic disease confined to the clivus, with typical findings of hypo intensity on magnetic resonance images and ground-glass density on computed tomography. The diagnosis of FD was confirmed on pathological examination of specimens taken through transsphenoidal surgery. The patient showed reduction of symptoms and no change of residual lesion on follow-up imaging taken 2.5 years later after surgery. This study includes clinical aspect, radiographic appearance, differential diagnosis and treatment strategy of this rare skull base lesion.

• Investigative Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.57-61
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• 2005

Osteosarcomas are highly malignant bone tumors which commonly affect metaphyseal portions of long bones and those of the skull are distinctly rare as primary neoplasm. We report a case of recurrent osteosarcoma originated from the skull base which destructed sphenoid bone in two months. The CT and MR images of 28 years old man with headache, dizziness, and loss of touch sense in right buccal area showed 3-cm sized homogenously well-enhancing mass with internal small cystic portions. Craniotomy and mass excision was done and chemotherapy was combined for 1 month. After about 2 month, follow up MR images showed larger recurrent mass in original site and confirmed as the same osteosarcoma after 2nd operation.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.64 no.2
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• pp.282-288
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• 2021

Objective : Electrooculography (EOG) records eyeball movements as changes in the potential difference between the negatively charged retina and the positively charged cornea. We aimed to investigate whether reliable EOG waveforms can be evoked by electrical stimulation of the oculomotor and abducens nerves during skull base surgery. Methods : We retrospectively reviewed the records of 18 patients who had undergone a skull base tumor surgery using EOG (11 craniotomies and seven endonasal endoscopic surgeries). Stimulation was performed at 5 Hz with a stimulus duration of 200 μs and an intensity of 0.1-5 mA using a concentric bipolar probe. Recording electrodes were placed on the upper (active) and lower (reference) eyelids, and on the outer corners of both eyes; the active electrode was placed on the contralateral side. Results : Reproducibly triggered EOG waveforms were observed in all cases. Electrical stimulation of cranial nerves (CNs) III and VI elicited positive waveforms and negative waveforms, respectively, in the horizontal recording. The median latencies were 3.1 and 0.5 ms for craniotomies and endonasal endoscopic surgeries, respectively (p=0.007). Additionally, the median amplitudes were 33.7 and 46.4 μV for craniotomies and endonasal endoscopic surgeries, respectively (p=0.40). Conclusion : This study showed reliably triggered EOG waveforms with stimulation of CNs III and VI during skull base surgery. The latency was different according to the point of stimulation and thus predictable. As EOG is noninvasive and relatively easy to perform, it can be used to identify the ocular motor nerves during surgeries as an alternative of electromyography.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.1-5
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• 2007

Objective : We studied whether frontal skull base fracture has an impact on the occurrence and recovery of anosmia and/or ageusia following frontal traumatic brain injury (TBI). Methods : Between May 2003 and April 2005, 102 consecutive patients who had hemorrhage or contusion on the frontal lobe base were conservatively treated. Relevant clinical and radiographic data were collected, and assessment of impaired smell and taste sensation were also surveyed up to at least 12 months post-injury. Results : Among 102 patients, anosmia was noted in 22 (21.6%), of whom 10 had ageusia at a mean 4.4 days after trauma. Bilateral frontal lobe injuries were noted in 20 of 22 patients with anosmia and in all 10 patients with ageusia. Frontal skull base fracture was noted in 41 patients, of whom 9 (21.4%) had anosmia and 4 (9.5%) had ageusia. There was no statistical difference in the occurrence of anosmia and ageusia between patients with or without fracture. Of the 22 patients with anosmia, recovery from anosmia occurred in nine (40.9%) at the interval of 6 to 24 months after trauma, of whom six had frontal skull base fracture and three were not associated with fracture. Recovery of anosmia was significantly higher in patients without fracture than those with fracture (p<0.05). Recovery from ageusia occurred in only two of 10 patients at the interval of 18 to 20 months after trauma and was not eminent in patients without fracture. Conclusion : One should be alert and seek possibile occurrence of the anosmia and/or ageusia following frontal TBI. It is suggested that recovery is quite less likely if such patients have fractures on the frontal base, and these patients should wait for at least 6 to 18 months to anticipate such recovery if there is no injury to the central olfactory structures.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.29 no.7
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• pp.910-917
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• 2000

Introduction : The management of chordomas and chondrosarcomas in the skull base is difficult due to the critical location, locally aggressive nature, and high recurrence rate. The authors present the effectiveness of surgical removal and radiation therapy on survival and tumor recurrence. Material and Methods : Thirty cranial base chordomas and chondrosarcomas from 23 patients(14 patients with chordomas and 9 patients with chondrosarcomas) were operated in our institution between 1985 and 1998. There were 15 men and 8 women, with a mean age of 40.7 years. The largest diameter of tumors ranged from 15 to 70mm (mean 41.5). The extent of surgical removal was subtotal or total in a half(15 operations). In nineteen operations, tumors were removed by conventional approaches and skull base approaches were applied in 11 operations. Postoperative radiation therapy was performed in 16(70%) patients. The mean duration of follow up is 50 months(1- 156 months). Results : The 3- and 5-year survival rates(YSR) of overall patient are 75% and 67%, respectively. The analysis showed that 1) skull base approach to chordomas and chondrosarcomas showed a tendency to remove more portion of the tumors(p＝0.058) but leave more frequent incidence of new deficits(p＝0.047) : 2) larger tumor diameter af-fected the extent of removal(p＝0.028) : 3) the extent of removal seemed to be the determining factor for overall survival and recurrence-free survival(the 5-YSR and RFSR of subtotal or total removal group are 92% and 80% vs. 40% of partial removal or biopsy group) : 4) conventional radiation therapy improved patient survival(5-YSR of patients who received RT is 76% whereas 5-YSR of those who didn't receive RT is 43%) but failed to prolong long-term recurrence-free survival. Conclusion : The extent of removal and postoperative radiation therapy are determining factors of patients' survival in skull base chordomas and chondrosarcomas. However, none of these factors significantly influenced the survival in multivariate analysis. Aggressive surgical removal of more than subtotal resection combined with postoperative radiation therapy seems to be the choice of therapy in the management of these tumors.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.273-276
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• 2008

Although adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC) of the lacrimal gland is a rarely encountered orbital tumor, it invades intracranially more frequently than carcinomas of other glands in the head and neck. A 52-year-old man underwent orbital exenteration and resection of intracranially extended tumor via a fronto-orbito-zygomatic approach in combination with a transfacial approach. Histopathologically, the tumor showed perineural, vascular, and lymphatic invasion. Additionally, he received radiotherapy (60 Gy) and adjuvant systemic cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil chemotherapy due to residual tumor in the orbit and systemic metastases (lung, ribs, and spines). He was free of progression and recurrence at 6 months after treatment. The authors report a case of skull base invasion by an ACC of the lacrimal gland to remind neurosurgeons planning intervention that this disease shows a tendency to invade intracranially.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.45 no.6
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• pp.386-389
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• 2009

On rare occasions, percutaneous vertebroplasty (PV) may be associated with adverse spinal and extraspinal events. Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) has not been reported complication following a PV. This is a report of two elderly women with spine compressions who developed idiopathic SAH after injecting polymethylmethacrylate into the thoracolumbar region transcutaneously. PV was performed as an usual manner on prone position under local anesthesia for these patients. During the interventions, two patients complained of a bursting nature of headache and their arterial blood pressure was jumped up. Computed tomography scans revealed symmetric SAH on the both hemispheres and moderate degree of hydrocephalus. Any intracranial vascular abnormalities for their SAH were not evident on modern neuroangiography modalities. One patient received a ventricular shunt surgery, but both fully recovered from the procedure-related SAH. The pathophysiologic mechanism that induce SAH will be discussed, with suggesting the manner that prevent and minimize this rare intracranial complication after PV.

• Journal of The Korean Dental Society of Anesthesiology
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.227-232
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• 2014

The indication for submandibular intubation is the requirement for intraoperative maxillomandibular fixation (MMF) in the presence of injuries that preclude nasotracheal intubation. Thus, We reported 2 cased of endotracheal intubations via submandibular approach that is applicable in patients with skull base fractures for a reliable general anesthesia. Endotracheal intubation via submandibular approach was applied during general anesthetic procedures for open reduction in three patients with Le Fort II, III or nasoorbitoethmoid (NOE) fractures. No complications due to submandibular intubation, such as infection, postoperative scarring, nerve injury, hematoma, bleeding, or orocutaneous fistula, were observed following submandibular intubation. Endotracheal intubation via submandibular approach is effective in patients with skull base fractures. In our method, the tube connector is removed in orotracheal intubation in order to avoiding the tube removal or displacement. The advantages of this method are very simple, safe, and to provide the good operation field.