If you or your loved one is diagnosed to have a skull base tumor, Dr Supreet Bhatt is one of the highly skilled and learned head and neck cancer surgeons in Ahmedabad. He will help you to understand your treatment, so that you can get the best outcome possible. He is a well trained skull base surgeon, who places a strong emphasis on completely removing the tumor while preserving quality of life.

What is the skull base?

The skull base refers to the floor of the cranium, the part of the skull on which the brain rests. It consists of five bones, separating the brain from the sinuses and other parts of the head.

The bones that make up the skull base include:

• The ethmoid bone, which divides the nasal cavity from the brain
• The sphenoid bone, which helps form the skull base, sides of the skull, and the sides of the eye sockets
• The occipital bone, which forms the back and base of the skull
• A pair of frontal bones, which make up the forehead and the upper part of the eye sockets
• A pair of temporal bones, which form the lateral walls of the skull

The skull base is a complex part of the body. There are a number of openings in the skull base to allow important blood vessels and nerves to pass through.

What are skull base tumors?

Skull base tumors are growths that can form along the base of the skull or directly below the skull base in areas such as the sinuses. Many are benign (non-cancerous) and grow slowly over time. In rare cases, a skull base tumor can be cancerous, which means that it is able to spread to other parts of the body.

Types of skull base tumors

A skull base tumor refers to the location of the tumor. But skull base tumors are not all the same. There are different types of tumors. And each type of skull base tumor grows slightly differently, which is an important consideration during treatment. Types of skull base tumors include:

• Acoustic neuromas
• Chordomas
• Chondrosarcomas
• Craniopharyngiomas
• Meningiomas
• Paranasal sinus cancers