A stepwise illustration of the retrosigmoid approach for resection of a cerebellopontine meningioma.

The retrosigmoid approach is a work-horse approach to the cerebellopontine angle (CPA), providing access from the foremen magnum to the tentorium. Indications for this approach are variable such as resection of meningiomas, acoustic neuromas and epidermoid tumors, treatment of vascular lesions of vertebrobasilar system, vascular decompression of cranial nerves (V, VII, IX, X), cranial nerve neurectomies, and intrinsic lesions of the cerebellum and brainstem. In this video, we demonstrate the use of retrosigmoid craniotomy for resection of a large CPA meningioma, delineating all steps including positioning, mapping. The video can be found here: http://youtu.be/kISkYS16Brk .