Surgery of petroclival meningiomas

Petroclival meningiomas represent only 10% of all meningiomas located in the posterior fossa, but are some of the most formidable challenges in skull base surgery. We described our recent experience (2005-September2014) regarding the surgery of these tumors. We retrospectively analyzed surgical results and outcome in 11 cases of petroclival meningiomas. Most common symptoms in our series were headache and gait disturbance, while cranial nerves palsies represented the most common presenting signs. There were 8 females and 3 males, and the mean age was 52 years. Surgical approaches chosen for petroclival meningiomas in our series were retrosigmoid (9 patients) and subtemporal transtentorial (2 patients). We achieved total tumor resection in 5 cases (45%) and subtotal resection in 6 cases (55%). Overall outcome (total/subtotal resection) was good in 6 cases, fair in 3 cases and poor in one case. One postoperative death occurred due to hemorrhagic midbrain infarction (9%). Complications were usually related to cranial nerve deficits: loss of hearing (2 patients), paresis of trochlear nerve (1 patient), trigeminal nerve (3 patients) and facial nerve (1 patient). In 4 patients these cranial nerves deficits were transient. In one case, a patient developed postoperative hydrocephalus and needed shunt placement. Despite the fact that complications can be disastrous, we considered that an appropriate approach, combined with microsurgical techniques and a better understanding of the anatomy, greatly decrease the incidence and severity of complications and make feasible a total tumor resection.