Surgical management of nasopharyngeal angiofibroma involving the cavernous sinus.

Involvement of the cavernous sinus by juvenile nasopharyngeal angiofibroma represents a therapeutic challenge. We present our experience over the past 5 years with the surgical management of six cases of juvenile nasopharyngeal angiofibroma involving this site. Three of six patients had involvement of the medial aspect of the cavernous sinus and tumor was removed using a midline extracranial approach. Of three remaining patients, two had invasion of the medial and inferior margin of the cavernous sinus and one represented a recurrent lesion. The tumor in these three cases was resected using a combined frontotemporal and lateral infratemporal fossa approach. An extracranial recurrence occurred in one patient, and the remaining five patients have had no evidence of recurrent disease 12 to 71 months following surgery. Morbidity has been limited to trismus, facial hypesthesia, and serous otitis media.