Objective: This study aims to contribute to the collective experience with the treatment of those skull base tumors exceptionally arising in children and adolescents.
Materials and methods: We retrospectively reviewed 42 patients younger than 19 years and operated on for a skull base tumor between 1992 and 2002. We analyzed data regarding patient age, histology, tumor location, extent of resection, postoperative complications, and adjuvant therapies. Long-term outcomes were also tracked (functional sequelae, recurrence, mortality).
Conclusion: The median age was 13.75 years. Twenty-two patients harbored a malignant tumor. Gross total resection was achieved for 78% of cases. Transient postoperative cerebrospinal fluid leak or infection affected ten patients, suggesting the need for reconstructive techniques. Nineteen patients received adjuvant therapy. Recurrence rate was 47%. At the end of the follow-up (median = 63 months), 14% of patients had a neurological deficit and 30% were dead. Middle cranial base tumors were associated with a poor prognosis.