Retrolabyrinthine transsigmoid approach to basilar trunk and vertebrobasilar artery junction aneurysms. Technical note.

A retrolabyrinthine transsigmoid approach was employed successfully in three patients with vertebrobasilar aneurysms. The major benefits of this technique include a relatively shallow depth of exposure, lack of brain stem retraction, and simplicity as compared to traditional and some recently proposed methods. All three patients have returned to their previous activities.