Case
About this case
Operative video: Chordoma of the Clivus. The background notes below summarise the anatomy, pathology and approach, with published references.
Reference notes
Background
Notes on this case’s cranial location, pathology and surgical approach, with published sources. General education only, not advice for any individual patient.
Cranial Location
Clivus
The clivus is the sloping midline bone from the dorsum sellae to the foramen magnum, forming the anterior wall of the posterior fossa and separating it from the nasopharynx. It is intimately related to the brainstem behind and to the cavernous sinuses and internal carotid arteries laterally.
Clival and petroclival lesions — chordomas, chondrosarcomas and meningiomas — are reached anteriorly through endoscopic endonasal transclival routes or laterally through petrosal approaches, chosen by the lesion's lateral and vertical extent.
References
- Kassam AB, Snyderman CH, Mintz A, Gardner P, Carrau RL. Expanded endonasal approach: the rostrocaudal axis. Part II. Posterior clinoids to the foramen magnum. Neurosurg Focus. 2005;19(1):E4.
- Stacchiotti S, Sommer J; Chordoma Global Consensus Group. Building a global consensus approach to chordoma: a position paper from the medical and patient community. Lancet Oncol. 2015;16(2):e71-e83.
