CBC Surgery of the skull base

The course units of the Second-level Short Specialisation Degree in Surgery on the Base of the Skull include the acquisition of elements concerning the lateral approaches to the skull base, and the multidisciplinary treatment of lesions in that area.
The Master’s intervention include approaches to the inner ear canal, posterior fossa, jugular foramen, parapharyngeal space, and regions near the eso-endocranial side of the skull base, executed in a single time, in two steps or combined.
Although the choice of topics covered follows the program, it is flexible and linked to current surgical-medical cases, with opportunities for insights created also based on case-specific characteristics and issues covered.
Also, it includes specific literature-based insights on specific topics, in Journal Club style.
This edition is specifically dedicated to the lateral approaches, keeping in mind that the skull base is a single complex unit, and that the “front” and “lateral” spaces are surgical access routes, and not a classification of the pathologies.
The Master’s faculty comprises professors devoted to skull base surgery in its different areas (diagnosis, treatment, base research), such as prof. Mazzoni, and expert field professors, also from other Universities.

The Second-level Short Specialisation Degree in Surgery on the Base of the Skull is addressed to neurosurgeons and otolaryngologists, and its purpose is raising awareness on this high-speciality field, where collaboration between these two figures is strongly recommended, following a specific training on skull base surgery. The Master’s Course is the delta for improving the profile of these specialists in this field, and it also provides constant references to the treatment options for single pathologies, in a multidisciplinary prospective.

The Second-level Short Specialisation Degree in Surgery on the Base of the Skull provides training on:

• Microsurgical anatomy of the temporal bone, inner ear canal, apex bone, jugular foramen, posterior skull fossa, medium skull fossa, parapharyngeal space, facial nerve, inner carotid, nerves IX-XII.
• Anatomy and physiopathology of the inner ear
• Anatomy and physiology of the cochlea, inner ear canal with nerves VIII and VII, and rehabilitation perspectives for VII and VIII
• Organ-targeted technical surgery elements (carotid, jugular, cerebellum, left main, dura)
• Basic microsurgery techniques for dissection along the inner carotid, inner jugular, intra-dural structures (cerebellopontine angle, cerebellum and left main)
• Diagnostic and interventional neuroradiology
• Modern neuroradiology diagnosis, interventional angiography procedures and angio-embolization techniques
• Syndromic skull base lesion forms
• Endolymphatic sac carcinoma in Von Lippel Lindau disease and Neurofibromatosis 2
• Elements of histopathology and microscopic diagnosis
• Basic principles of skull base oncology
• Cerebellopontine angle and inner ear canal cancer and targeted surgical access
• CUI and angle neoplasms with surgical access: retro-sigmoid route with retro-labyrinthic meatotomy, traditional retro-sigmoid route with endoscopic support, trans-labyrinthic route, medium skull fossa route, transonic route, retro-labyrinthine pre-sigmoid route and trans-cochlear route
• Jugular foramen cancer and surgical access
• Infratemporal access A, petro-occipital trans-sigmoid (POTS) access
• Updated paraganglioma treatment options
• Clivus, apex bone, nasopharynx cancer and surgical access
• Petrous bone lesions with surgical access via infratemporal route B, C
• Base reconstruction
• Reconstruction techniques after craniofacial, bone and extra-endocranial interface soft tissue demolition
• Live surgery: trans-labyrinthic access, retro-sigmoid access, infratemporal access
• Step-by-step surgery
• Cranial nerve intra-surgery neurophysiological monitoring
• Intra-surgery monitoring of cranial nerves VII and VII and in neurovascular conflict surgery
• Transmeatal-transpromontorial access to the inner ear canal and enlarged transcanal access to the cerebellopontine angle
• Microscope access through the transmeatal-transpromontorial outer acoustic meatus, with meatal tympanic flap and enlarged transcanal transpromontorial micro-endoscopic approach with pre-facial petrosectomy of the cerebellopontine angle
• Petrous bone resection for malignant ear cancer
• Temporal bone resection for malignant ear cancer

The general ranking of merit for the academic year 2023/24 will be published on the Italian page of this Master according to the timing provided in the Call.