Description:
Benign tumors of the base of the skull, such
as acoustic neuroma, glomus jugulare and meningiomas will commonly
cause symptoms referable to the realm of an otolaryngologist.
Specifically, the symptoms of these types of tumors may include hearing
loss, dizziness, tinnitus, facial numbness, difficulty swallowing
and/or facial paralysis. For this reason, otolaryngologists are the
physicians most frequently involved in the care of these patients. More
importantly, otolaryngologists are the physicians best suited to treat
the majority of complications associated with treatment of these types
of tumors. Until the last past decade or so, traditional microsurgery
has been the main treatment for benign skull base tumors. In the last
few years, radiotherapy and radiosurgery have been used with increasing
frequency to treat these lesions. The North American Skull Base Society
predicts that by the year 2010 a greater percentage of acoustic tumors
will be treated with radiosurgery than by traditional microsurgery. In
order to prepare for this paradigm shift in treatment,
otolaryngologists must become familiar with the different types of
radiation treatments as well as the potential complications associated
with radiation treatment for benign skull base tumors.
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