Transzygomatic anterior infratemporal fossa approach and high cervical approach for resection of infra temporal fossa and parapharyngeal space solitary fibrous tumours

Abstract

The infratemporal fossa (ITF) is the region under the floor of the middle fossa giving passage to most major cerebral vessels and cranial nerves.(1) It is closely related to important adjacent regions such as the middle fossa, pterygopalatine fossa, orbit, and nasopharynx.(2) Due to the anatomical complexity in the ITF, surgical removal of the lesions in or around it is still challenging.(3) Since the 1960s, many surgeons have reported various surgical approaches. the preauricular transzygomatic approach via a transcranial route was reported to be used for exposure of the antero-superior portion of the ITF (2,3). Solitary fibrous tumours (SFTs) were first described by Klempere and Rabin in 1931 as spindle-cell tumours originating from the pleura.(4) With the exception of myopericytoma, infantile myofibromatosis and HPC-like lesions of the sinonasal tract showing myoid differentiation, all other HPC like lesions are best considered as subtypes of SFT.(5) Only a few cases of SFT have been described in the literature involving the skull base and parapharyngeal space.(6–8) The purpose of this article is to show anatomical dissections involving this surgical approach and to evaluate our surgical experience using it.