Results of anterior skull base surgery in pediatric and young adult patients.

We sought to better define the results of anterior skull base surgery in pediatric and young adult patients. We performed a single-institution, retrospective cohort study in a tertiary-care academic cancer center. Between 1973 and 2005, 234 patients underwent anterior skull base surgery at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Of these, 19 patients were <21 years of age. Surgical indications, findings, and complications were reviewed. Survival outcomes were analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method and compared with patients >/=21 years old. Nineteen patients <21 years old underwent a total of 20 procedures for lesions of the anterior skull base. Sarcoma was the most common indication for surgery including 6 (32%) patients treated for radiation-induced malignancies. Minor complications were noted with 6 (30%) procedures. There were no major complications and no perioperative deaths. The difference in 3-year recurrence-free (68% versus 59%; p = 0.623) and overall survival (83% versus 66%; p = 0.309) compared with patients >/=21 years old did not reach statistical significance. Anterior skull base surgery is well tolerated in pediatric and young adult patients <21 years of age. Survival is comparable to older patients treated similarly and appears strongly influenced by histology.