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Skull base tumor
Skull base tumors are relatively rare.
Schwannomas comprise less than 10% of all primary intracranial tumors. Schwannomas of the vestibular nerve are the most common neoplasms that involve the temporal bone and represent 75% of tumors that occupy the cerebellopontine angle cistern.
Chondrosarcomas comprise approximately 0.1% of all intracranial tumors. Half of these develop at the cranial base.
Chordomas also comprise approximately 0.1% of all intracranial tumors. Forty percent of chordomas develop at the skull base.
Skull base metastases, not including direct extension, occur in 4% of cancer patients.
Types
Anterior cranial fossa
Middle cranial fossa
Which contains the pituitary gland. The pituitary gland is about the size of a pea and is located in the sella turcica (saddle-shaped bony structure in the sphenoid bone):
Sellar tumors:
Pituitary adenomas
Craniopharyngioma
Rathke’s cleft cyst
Posterior cranial fossa
Chondrosarcoma
Epidermoid tumor
Meningioma
Types of skull base tumors and conditions:
Skull base brain tumors
Chondroma
Chondrosarcoma
Chordoma
Giant cell tumor
Hemangiopericytoma
Meningioma
Metastatic brain tumors
Nasopharyngeal angiofibroma
Neurofibroma
Olfactory neuroblastoma (esthesioneuroblastoma)
Osteoma
Paranasal sinus cancer
Petrous apex lesions
Rhabdomyosarcoma
Skull base sellar lesions
Adenoma
Craniopharyngioma
Rathke’s cleft cyst
Other skull base conditions
Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leak
Encephaloceles
Fibrous dysplasia
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