Common Sense in Head and Neck Surgery for Malignant Skull Base Disease:Lack of Common Sense in Neurosurgery

Abstract

Skull base surgery for malignant skull base disease is one of the most difficult surgeries. The success of the surgery depends on the harmonization of the excellent skills of the three departments: neurosurgery, otorhinolaryngology/head and neck surgery, and plastic surgery. In addition, it is necessary to perform complete resection, that is, resection in which the malignant tumor is removed along with some surrounding healthy tissue. It is known that there is a statistically significant difference between negative and positive resection margins. In the event of a positive resection margin, chemoradiation with high-dose cisplatin is standard for the most common squamous cell carcinomas.