Expanded Endoscopic Endonasal Approach for Resection of Intradural Chordoma: Surgical and Anatomic Nuances: 2-Dimensional Operative Video.

Abstract

The expanded endoscopic endonasal approach (EEA) has been growing as a surgical alternative for the treatment of clival chordomas because of their frequent midline location and bone erosion. The endoscopic transclival approach provides with a safer and more direct anatomic route for tumors located predominantly in the midline contributing to minimize postoperative comorbidities. In this video, we demonstrate the step-by-step technique for resection of such challenging clival pathology. This is an operative video of an extended endoscopic resection of a clival chordoma with stepwise description of the surgical technique. We present the case of a 49-yr-old man in whom, incidentally in the context of low testosterone level, a clival lesion with purely midline location with intradural extension into the ventral brainstem and occupation of the left cerebellopontine angle was discovered. The patient was submitted to an expanded endoscopic transclival approach and a macroscopic gross total resection was successfully achieved. The final pathology was compatible with a conventional chordoma. This video details the surgical anatomy of the clival region to facilitate the identification of surgical landmarks and anatomic boundaries with the goal of avoiding injury to the neurovascular structures involved in this approach. Extended endoscopic transclival surgery is a useful and safer option for the management of midline chordomas because it provides with a dissection corridor free of major neurovascular structures. Endoscopic techniques are associated with good outcomes in terms of macroscopic gross total resection and low surgical risks in these selected tumors.