Reconstruction of the skull base.

Tumor surgery of the skull base has been increasingly undertaken in recent years. This report involves a series of 18 consecutive patients who have undergone 22 operations at Ohio State University from July 1980 to January 1983 for removal of tumors either adjacent to or through the skull base. A variety of reconstructive techniques such as pericranial flaps, muscle flaps, temporalis fascial grafts, split-rib grafts, fat grafts, and bone grafts have been found to be reliable. This series also included the successful use of a temporalis myocutaneous flap. The conclusion of this study is that these techniques provide a safe approach to the resection of tumors involving the base of skull.