Endoscopic Endonasal Management of Metastatic Lesions of the Anterior Skull Base: Case Series and Literature Review

• Published in: World neurosurgery Vol. 84; no. 5; pp. 1267 - 1277
• Main Authors: Zacharia, Brad E, Romero, Flavio R, Rapoport, Sarah K, Raza, Shaan M, Anand, Vijay K, Schwartz, Theodore H
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.11.2015
• Subjects: Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Cerebrospinal Fluid Leak - etiology; Combined Modality Therapy; Disease-Free Survival; Endoscopic endonasal approach; Endoscopy - methods; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; Kaplan-Meier Estimate; Male; Middle Aged; Nasal Cavity - surgery; Neurosurgery; Neurosurgical Procedures - methods; Parasellar metastasis; Pituitary Function Tests; Postoperative Complications - epidemiology; Retrospective Studies; Sellar metastasis; Skull base; Skull Base Neoplasms - radiotherapy; Skull Base Neoplasms - secondary; Skull Base Neoplasms - surgery; Sphenoid Bone - surgery; Survival Rate; Treatment Outcome; Skull base metastases; Skull base; GTR; DI; Gross total resection; Diabetes insipidus; Cerebrospinal fluid; Parasellar metastasis; Sellar metastasis; CSF; PFS; Progression-free survival; Endoscopic endonasal approach; SBM
• ISSN: 1878-8750; 1878-8769
• DOI: 10.1016/j.wneu.2015.05.061

Background The anterior skull base is an uncommon site for brain metastases. A limited number of cases have been reported where a region of the skull base is accessed through an expanded/extended transsphenoidal route. In addition, reports of overall and progression-free survival rates are lacking. Objective To report progression-free and overall survival rates for skull base metastases treated with aggressive endoscopic endonasal surgery and radiation therapy. Methods We retrospectively review a prospective database of patients at New York Presbyterian Hospital undergoing expanded endoscopic endonasal surgery from 2004 to 2014. From this database, we identified all patients whose final pathology revealed a metastatic lesion in the midline skull base. Results Seven hundred forty-nine patients underwent endonasal endoscopic surgery. Final pathology in 12 patients (1.6%) revealed metastasis to the sellar or parasellar region. Tumors were located in the sella, suprasellar cistern, clivus, ethmoid sinuses, sphenoid sinus, cavernous sinus, and craniovertebral junction. Breast and lung cancers were the most common primary diagnoses. Gross total resection was achieved in 41.6% of patients. There were no postoperative cerebrospinal fluid leaks. Adjuvant radiation therapy was used in 92% of cases. Median follow-up was 14 months (range, 1–55). Median progression-free and overall survival were 18 and 16 months, respectively. Conclusions The range of anterior skull base metastatic lesions that can be managed endonasally has increased with the advent of extended endonasal endoscopic surgical approaches. Favorable results can be obtained with this surgical approach as part of the overall management paradigm for patients with skull base metastases.