Skull-Base Surgery

The Department of Neurosurgery at Brigham and Women’s Hospital offers a comprehensive, advanced technological and multidisciplinary approach to care and treat cranial base disorders. We are dedicated to providing the highest level of clinical care to our patients by offering the most up-to-date diagnostic and treatment modalities. The BWH Skull-Base Surgery team has established an international reputation for excellence in the treatment of diseases affecting the skull base with a comprehensive treatment team from specialties, including Otolaryngology/Head and Neck, Neurology, Pathology, Radiology, Oncology, and Intensive Care Medicine under the leadership of Dr. Ossama Al-Mefty.  Dr. Al-Mefty is a world-renowned neurosurgeon, recognized as the pioneer of skull-base surgery. 

What is the Skull Base?

The skull base is the bottom portion of the skull that supports the undersurface of the brain where many vital structures are located. This area includes the roof of the eye sockets, cheek bone, top of the palate, the deep structures of the ear canals and the bottom portion of the skull behind the head. The skull base contains twelve cranial nerves and multiple arteries that control complex senses, including hearing, vision and balance.

Diseases We Treat

The cranial nerves that occupy the skull base (cranium) control many basic functions, including the senses of smell, taste, sight, facial movements, sensitivity and hearing. In addition to these critical nerves, the cranial base also contains critical blood vessels that enter or exit the skull, making the cranium one of the most delicate and complex areas of the human body. Common disorders that our BWH Neurosurgeons treat in this region include:

• Aneurysms
• Arachnoid cysts
• Arteriovenous Malformation (AVM)
• Auditory rehabilitation
• Cavernous angiomas
• Chondrosarcoma
• Clivus chordoma
• Encephalocele (cerebral spinal fluid leak)
• Epidermoid (congenital cholesteatoma)
• Esthesioneuroblastoma
• Glomus Jugulare Tumors
• Facial nerve disorders
• Jugular Foramen Tumors
• Meniere's Disease
• Meningioma
• Petrous apex tumors
• Skull base infections and osteomyelitis
• Temporal bone auditory canal carcinoma
• Tic Douloureux (Trigeminal Neuralgia)
• Vascular Decompression

Treatments We Offer

Our multidisciplinary skull-base surgical team, using the latest imaging technology, is able to reach all areas of the skull base to treat a wide variety of cranial disorders. In addition, our BWH Neurosurgeons are highly-trained experts at skull-base surgery to ensure that we offer the safest and highest care available to our patients. Today, surgical treatment for skull-base disorders allows for faster pathological diagnosis, decompression of critical structures and, possibly, a cure. Further, our shorter and innovative surgical treatments through the side or underneath the skull-base will help minimize injury to the brain, result in a faster operation with fewer complications and a more timely recovery. The surgical treatments we offer for a variety of skull-base diseases include:

• Expanded Endonasal Approaches (EEA) to the skull base
• Anterior craniofacial surgery
• Posterior skull base surgery
• Skull base radiosurgery

Contact Us

Department of Neurosurgery
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
75 Francis Street
Boston, MA 02115
New Patient Ph: (617) 525-8166
Established Patient Phone and Fax: Contact Us