Craniofacial approaches to large juvenile angiofibromas.

OBJECT

Craniofacial approaches provide excellent exposure to lesions in the anterior and middle cranial fossae. The authors review their experience with craniofacial approaches for resection of large juvenile nasopharyngeal angiofibromas.

METHODS

Between 1992 and 2009, 22 patients (all male, mean age 15 years, range 9-27 years) underwent 30 procedures. These cases were reviewed retrospectively.

RESULTS

Gross-total resection of 17 (77%) of the 22 lesions was achieved. The average duration of hospitalization was 8.2 days (range 3-20 days). The rate of recurrence and/or progression was 4 (18%) of 22, with recurrences occurring a mean of 21 months after the first resection. All patients underwent preoperative embolization. Nine patients (41%) developed complications, the most common of which was CSF leakage (23%). The average follow-up was 27.7 months (range 2-144 months). The surgery-related mortality rate was 0%. Based on their mean preoperative (90) and postoperative (90) Karnofsky Performance Scale scores, 100% of patients improved or remained the same.

CONCLUSIONS

The authors' experience shows that craniofacial approaches provide an excellent avenue for the resection of large juvenile nasopharyngeal angiofibromas, with acceptable rates of morbidity and no deaths.