title: Celebrating the golden anniversary of anterior skull base surgery: reflections on the past 50 years and its historical evolution.
abstract: With its inception nearly half a century ago through the pioneering work of Dandy, McLean, and Smith, anterior skull base (ASB) surgery is a relatively young discipline. It became a distinct entity in 1963 when Ketcham popularized the combined transcranial transfacial approach for en bloc resection of tumors of the paranasal sinuses extending into the anterior cranial fossa. However, because these procedures resulted in major morbidities and mortalities, alternative modes of treatment were sought. Since the 1970s, the introduction and promotion of the surgical endoscope by Messerklinger, Stammberger, and Kennedy, commenced the era of endoscopic sinus surgery. Thaler and colleagues described the utility of the endoscope for ASB surgery at the turn of the century. This allowed direct visualization and safer, more accurate removal of tumors. In 2001, Casiano reported the first purely endoscopic endonasal ASB resection, a novel technique that has been adopted by major skull base centers. The success of ASB surgery can be attributed to both the development of the skull base team as well as improvements in surgical techniques, instrumentation, and visualization technology. In this article, we review the historical evolution of ASB surgery as we approach the 50th anniversary since its recognition as a distinct entity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, New Jersey Medical School, Newark, New Jersey 07103, USA.
authors.forename: Qasim
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Husain
authors.forename: Smruti K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.forename: Resha S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Soni
authors.forename: Amit A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.forename: James K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Jean Anderson
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Eloy
mesh_terms: D035262:Cranial Fossa, Anterior / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D044583:Neuroendoscopy / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000266:history / Q000379:methods; D019635:Neurosurgical Procedures / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000266:history* / Q000379:methods; D010255:Paranasal Sinus Neoplasms / Q000266:history / Q000601:surgery; D010256:Paranasal Sinuses / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000209:etiology / Q000266:history