Surgical management of clinoidal meningiomas: 10 cases analysis

Aim: The purpose of this article is to advocate standard skull base technique for removing the clinoidal meningioma and to delineate the technique’s advantages that aid in achieving an improved extent of tumor resection and enhancing the patients’ overall outcome, specially their visual outcome. Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed on 10 consecutive patients with clinoidal meningiomas who underwent surgical resection at the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University and other private clinics between May 2013 and July 2016. A standard pterional craniotomy technique consisting of extradural anterior clinoidectomy, coupled with optic canal unroofing and optic nerve sheath opening was used in all patients. All patients had thorough preoperative and postoperative ophthalmological evaluations. The follow-up period ranged from 6 to 42 months. Results: Total resection was achieved in 5 (50.0%) of the 10 patients in this series. The majority of the patients with preoperative visual impairment experienced significant visual improvement 7 of 10 patients; 70.0%). Conclusion: In the majority of patients with clinoidal meningiomas, total resection may be achieved with minimal complications. For large tumors encasing the optic nerve and internal carotid artery, or for those tumors causing preoperative visual impairment, use of the cranial base technique delineated in this study may lead to significant improvement in the patients’ visual and overall outcomes.