Corridor surgery: the current paradigm for skull base surgery.
BACKGROUND
Clival chordomas are rare tumors, especially in the pediatric population. In this report, we present the case of a 3-year-old boy who was found to have a large posterior pharyngeal, clival, and posterior fossa tumor detected on a CT scan after a closed head injury.


CONCLUSIONS
Further questioning revealed a history of ataxia and dysphagia. Imaging confirmed severe extrinsic brain stem compression. The tumor was resected in multiple stages utilizing a minimally invasive endoscopic endonasal technique along with open transfacetal, transcondylar approach through the carotid-vertebral window. The child suffered no permanent complications as a result of our treatment and his dysphagia significantly improved. Although a complete resection was not feasible due to vascular encasement by the tumor, extensive decompression was obtained with minimal morbidity.


CONCLUSIONS
We present this case to illustrate a new paradigm of skull base surgical approaches for large clival lesions in pediatric patients that allows aggressive resection with minimal morbidity.
Pirris
Stephen M
SM
Department of Neurological Surgery, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.
Pollack
Ian F
IF
Snyderman
Carl H
CH
Carrau
Ricardo L
RL
Spiro
Richard M
RM
Tyler-Kabara
Elizabeth
E
Kassam
Amin B
AB
D002675:Child, Preschool; D002817:Chordoma / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D004724:Endoscopy / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D015192:Infratentorial Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D019635:Neurosurgical Procedures / Q000379:methods; D019291:Skull Base / Q000601:surgery*; D019292:Skull Base Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed