Pros and Cons of Various Approaches to the Middle Fossa

The beginnings of middle fossa surgery date back from the late 19th century with the extradural subtemporal approach for trigeminal neuralgia by Krause and Hartley, as well as Ernst von Bergmenn for temporal bone infections. In 1904, RH Parry reported the first vestibular nerve resection through the middle fossa, and in 1961, House reported the first approach for vestibular schwannoma and later popularized for other pathologies in the cerebellopontine angle. This led to subsequent development in middle fossa surgery.