• Lewis Z Leng, Seth Brown, Vijay K Anand, and Theodore H Schwartz.
• Department of Neurosurgery, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York Presbyterian Hospital, New York, New York, USA.
• Neurosurgery. 2008 May 1;62(5 Suppl 2):ONSE342-3; discussion ONSE343.

ObjectiveTransnasal endoscopic cranial base surgery is a novel minimal-access method for reaching the midline cranial base. Postoperative cerebrospinal fluid leak remains a persistent challenge. A new method for watertight closure of the anterior cranial base is presented.MethodsTo achieve watertight closure of the anterior cranial base, autologous fascia lata was used to create a "gasket seal" around a bone buttress, followed by application of a tissue sealant such as DuraSeal (Confluent Surgical, Inc., Waltham, MA). The gasket-seal closure was used to seal the anterior cranial base in a series of 10 patients with intradural surgery for suprasellar craniopharyngiomas (n = 5), planum meningiomas (n = 3), clival chordoma (n = 1), and recurrent iatrogenic cerebrospinal fluid leak (n = 1). Lumbar drains were placed intraoperatively in five patients and remained in place for 3 days postoperatively.ResultsAfter a mean follow-up period of 12 months, there were no cerebrospinal fluid leaks.ConclusionThe gasket-seal closure is an effective method for achieving watertight closure of the anterior cranial base after endoscopic intradural surgery.

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