• Mandana Behbahani, Jeffrey C Rastatter, Jacob Eide, Constantine Karras, Patrick Walz, Krish Suresh, Jeffrey R Leonard, and Tord D Alden.
• Division of Neurosurgery, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA; Division of Pediatrics, Department of Neurosurgery, Montefiore Health System, Bronx, New York, USA; Division of Pediatrics, Department of Neurosurgery, Albert Einstein University, Bronx, New York, USA. Electronic address: mbehbahani@luriechildrens.org.
• World Neurosurg. 2023 Feb 1; 170: e70e78e70-e78.

ObjectiveTo show the safety and efficacy of the endoscopic endonasal approach (EEA) for skull base surgery in pediatric patients through descriptive analysis of cases over an 11-year period.MethodsThe study comprised 94 patients undergoing EEA for skull base surgery, between January 2007 and June 2018, at 2 tertiary pediatric hospitals. Descriptive statistics are presented regarding the presentation, intraoperative details, and complications.ResultsOver the study period, 130 surgeries were performed in 94 patients: 94 primary surgeries and 36 reoperations. The mean patient age was 13.8 years and 48.9% of patients were female. Presenting signs/symptoms included endocrinopathies (56.4%), vision abnormalities (37.2%), and cranial nerve deficits (20.2%). EEA alone was used in 95.7% of primary surgeries and 91.7% of reoperations. Diseases treated included craniopharyngioma (18.1%), pituitary adenoma (17.0%), Rathke cleft cyst (13.8%), chordoma (9.6%), osteosarcoma (5.3%), juvenile nasopharyngeal angiofibroma (4.3%), skull base fracture (4.3%), and encephalocele (3.2%). A lumbar drain was used in 20.2% of primary surgeries and 25% of reoperations. A nasoseptal flap was used in 36.2% of primary surgeries and 25% of reoperations. Postoperative complications included cerebrospinal fluid leak (12.8%), sinusitis (7.4%), bacterial meningitis (3.2%), and carotid artery injury in 1 reoperation.ConclusionsEEA for anterior cranial base disease is safe and efficacious in pediatric patients and can be used to treat many of the rare and heterogenous diseases that arise in this anatomic location. Management strategies and rates of sinonasal and intracranial complications including cerebrospinal fluid leak rate are similar to those reported in adult cohorts.Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier Inc.

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