Infratemporal fossa approaches to the lateral skull base.

The infra-temporal fossa approach is one of the lateral approaches to the skull base. It is indicated for the treatment of tumors such as glomus tumor, petrous apex cholesteatoma, chondroma, lower cranial nerve neuroma and nasopharyngeal cancer. In the present paper, we described the surgical anatomy of the lateral skull base and the indications for the infra-temporal fossa approach with its variants. We showed the hints and pitfalls in the procedures. Five illustrative cases are also presented.