Middle fossa craniotomy (MFC) with exposure of the internal auditory canal and/or petrous apex (anterior petrosectomy) is an uncommon operation in the pediatric population. We report our institution's experience and surgical outcomes with pediatric MFC.
✦ The floor
Discussion
Signed responses from readers of the wire.
This institutional case series provides descriptive outcome data for a rare pediatric procedure; no actionable change to standard practice is warranted without larger controlled data.
Pediatric lateral skull base tumors are rare and technically demanding; pooling institutional outcomes helps establish benchmarks for surgical decision-making and counseling.
- 01Retrospective institutional review of pediatric middle fossa craniotomy for lateral skull base tumors.
- 02Procedures included exposure of the internal auditory canal and/or petrous apex.
- 03Outcomes data may inform surgical planning and risk counseling for this rare pediatric population.
- 04Evidence is limited to a single institution's experience with no control group.
- 05Findings are relevant to neurotologists and pediatric skull base surgeons.
Pediatric middle fossa craniotomy can be performed with documented surgical outcomes at an institutional level.
studypartially supported- PMID
- 42431074
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.ijporl.2026.112925.
- Journal
- International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology
- Publication type
- research_article
- Evidence level
- 4
- Population
- Pediatric patients undergoing middle fossa craniotomy for lateral skull base tumors
- Intervention
- Middle fossa craniotomy with exposure of internal auditory canal and/or petrous apex
Primary outcomes
Surgical outcomes; Perioperative and postoperative complications