Bone tumors of the base of the skull with ocular symptoms

Primitive bone tumors of the skull base are rare and usually discovered too late to allow definite surgical procedures. the authors present here three characteristic cases out of their series: chondroma of the middle clanial fossa, en plaque meningioma of the sphenoid ridge, and giant osteoma of the sphenoid. The first tumor was operated via a combined extra-intradural approach and was removed partially because of internal carotid artery and cavernous sinus involvement. the others were removed radically via unilateral and bilateral extradural approaches. The cranial base was reconstructed with autologous bone grafts taken from the inner surface of the bone flap. In the latter cases a prompt diagnosis allowed the patients to be cured with safe surgical procedures. the cosmetic and functional results are good. the cranial nerves are never severely damaged during operation and if pre-operatively impaired, they almost always recover their function.