Minimally invasive surgery technique for olfactory groove meningioma

  Meningiomas are common intracranial tumors, mostly benign, and skull base meningioma surgery is one of the most difficult types of neurosurgery. Olfactory groove meningioma is the most common tumor of the anterior cranial fossa base. Traditional surgical treatment is to remove the tumor using a large frontal coronal incision, or a pterygoid approach. Because of the large and traumatic surgical incision, there is also a risk of recurrent intracranial infections after surgery if there is an intraoperative opening of the frontal sinus airspace.  Our first frontal minimally invasive surgical technique, without muscle incision, removes the tumor in the midline part of the frontal base under direct visualization of the operative field. The operation is simplified, quick and less traumatic, avoiding the infection caused by the open frontal sinus. At present, we have accumulated more than 20 cases of surgical experience. The results are excellent.