Skull base approaches for posterior circulation aneurysms.

With the emergence of skull base surgery, surgical approaches have been developed and redefined, providing surgeons with accessible avenues to difficult lesions of the cranial base. Although the majority of lesions to which these techniques have been applied have been for tumors, we find that these skull base approaches can equally provide access to difficult vascular lesions, especially complex aneurysms of the posterior circulation. In this report three different skull base approaches were used in four patients for the treatment of posterior circulation aneurysms. A cranio-orbital-zygomatic approach was used for the acute stage of a ruptured basilar tip artery anenrysm and for a giant posterior cerebral artery aneurysm. A petrosal approach was used for a ruptured basilar trunk aneurysm, and the transcondylar approach was used for a vertebral artery aneurysm. Each approach provides a wide field and excellent exposure of vital structures with minimal brain retraction. Neck clipping of the aneurysms was successfully achieved in all cases. We believe that our skull base approaches facilitate the surgical treatment of posterior circulation aneurysms.