• Mika Komatsu, Fuminari Komatsu, Antonio Di Ieva, Tooru Inoue, and Manfred Tschabitscher.
• Department of Neurosurgery, Faculty of Medicine, Fukuoka University, Fukuoka, Japan.
• Neurosurgery. 2012 Mar 1;70(1 Suppl Operative):157-61; discussion 162.

BackgroundReconstruction of the skull base is essential to prevent postoperative leakage of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). However, a reliable method of reconstructing the middle cranial fossa via a subtemporal keyhole is not available.ObjectiveTo determine whether less invasive reconstruction of the middle cranial fossa under endoscopic guidance with a pedicled deep temporal fascia approach via a subtemporal keyhole is feasible and useful.MethodsThe middle cranial fossa in 4 fresh cadaver heads was reconstructed with a 4-mm 0° rigid endoscope.ResultsA subtemporal skin incision (subtemporal incision) was followed by 2 small skin incisions (temporal line incisions) made on the superior temporal line. The endoscope was inserted through the temporal line incisions, and then the deep temporal fascia was separated from the superficial temporal fascia and temporal muscle under endoscopic view. A pedicled flap was harvested from the subtemporal incision and applied to the middle cranial fossa after subtemporal keyhole craniotomy. The pedicled deep temporal fascial flap was flexible, long, and large enough to overlay skull base defects.ConclusionThis purely endoscopic technique using a pedicled deep temporal fascial flap provided reliable reconstruction of the middle cranial fossa through a subtemporal keyhole. This technique would also be applicable in preventing CSF leakage or treating traumatic, acquired nontraumatic, or congenital encephalocele in the middle cranial fossa.

29 keywords...

hide…