2005 Volume 14 Issue 5 Pages 336-340
The surgical approach for olfactory groove meningiomas is usually bifrontal craniotomy. We operated using the pterional approach and present our findings about the usefulness of this approach for the treatment of these tumors. We operated on three consecutive patients between January 2002 and October 2003 using the pterional approach. The maximum tumor diameter was mean 58 mm (41 to 80 mm). The clinical presentations were mental dysfunction in two patients, epilepsy, visual impairment and motor disturbance in one patient and minor manifestation in one patient. In one patient the tumor was removed totally and in the other patients they were removed subtotally. There was no mortality. Transient memory disturbance occurred in one patient postoperatively. The advantage of this approach is that it enables early identification of the optic nerve and of the posterior vascular complex situated behind the tumors. We propose the pterional approach as a useful approach for olfactory groove meningiomas.
