title: Orbitozygomatic craniotomy in three pieces: tips and tricks.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Didactically describe the orbitozygomatic craniotomy made in three pieces.
  
  
  METHODS
  This approach was performed, from 2002 to 2011, in 49 patients admitted at Beneficência Portuguesa of São Paulo Hospital.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty-seven patients had vascular lesions and twenty-two suffered for intracranial skull base tumors. The vascular lesions varied from cavernous angiomas inside the mesencephalum, high bifurcation basilar tip aneurysms, superior cerebellar arteries aneurysms and arteriovenous malformations in the interpeduncular cistern. Skull base tumors as meningiomas, interpeduncular hamartomas and third ventricle floor gliomas were among the neoplastic lesions approached. We had no permanent injuries and minimal transient complications had occurred.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It is a descriptive text, organized in the sequence of the main stages in which such a craniotomy is performed, describing in details the technique in which this group of evolutionarily authors came to accomplish the task.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Neurologia, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Feres
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Chaddad Neto
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Neurologia, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Hugo Leonardo
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Doria Netto
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Neurologia, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: José Maria
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Campos Filho
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Microneurocirurgia, Instituto de Ciências Neurológicas, Real e Benemérita Associação Portuguesa de Beneficência, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Mateus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Reghin Neto
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Neurologia, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Marcos Devanir
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Silva-Costa
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Microneurocirurgia, Instituto de Ciências Neurológicas, Real e Benemérita Associação Portuguesa de Beneficência, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Evandro
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Oliveira
mesh_terms: D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D003399:Craniotomy / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D020765:Intracranial Arterial Diseases / Q000601:surgery*