• Brian Hood, Eric Bray, Amade Bregy, Michael Norenberg, Donald Weed, and Jacques J Morcos.
• Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida, USA.
• World Neurosurg. 2014 Jan 1;81(1):202.e9-13.

BackgroundIntracranial carcinoid tumors belong to the class of neuroendocrine tumors and their incidence is extremely rare. The pathogenesis and clinical manifestations of carcinoid tumors of the skull base are outlined in this case report.Case DescriptionA 61-year-old multimorbid woman presented with transient memory loss. Computed tomographic and magnetic resonance imaging scan of the brain demonstrated a left cavernous sinus mass extending into the infratemporal fossa. The lesion was biopsied using the Caldwell-Luc approach, and histology showed a low-grade neuroendocrine tumor. The tumor was subtotally resected with a neurosurgery/head and neck combined preauricular infratemporal and subtemporal extradural approaches to the cavernous sinus. Further histologic evaluation revealed that the tumor was of carcinoid differentiation with no other primary or metastatic sites detectable.ConclusionPrimary intracranial carcinoid tumors, though rare, should be included in the differential diagnosis of extradural and dural-based lesions.Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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