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Posterior and Anterior Transpetrosal Approaches

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Microsurgical Anatomy and Surgery of the Posterior Cranial Fossa

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Abstract

The transpetrosal approaches (TPAs) are skull base approaches through the petrous bone. Using these approaches, the upper cerebellopontine angle (CPA) and space anterior to the upper brainstem can be exposed without strong retraction of the cerebellar hemisphere after removing the petrous bone. TPAs are broadly divided into anterior and posterior TPAs based on their relationships to the arcuate eminence [6, 21]. Both TPAs finally expose the upper CPA, but their route, procedures, and surgical field exposure differ from each other. Recently, a combined “modern” TPA, which is a combination of the anterior and posterior approaches, has also been utilized [3, 5, 6, 16]. We will describe these two TPAs separately, because an understanding of the two standard TPAs and their differences is essential.

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  1. Department of Neurosurgery Faculty of Medicine, Saga University, Saga, Japan

    Toshio Matsushima

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Matsushima, T. (2015). Posterior and Anterior Transpetrosal Approaches. In: Microsurgical Anatomy and Surgery of the Posterior Cranial Fossa. Springer, Tokyo. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-54183-7_19

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-4-431-54183-7_19

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  • Print ISBN: 978-4-431-54182-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-4-431-54183-7

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