Franco Demonte, MD, FRCSC, FACS

Drs. Chandler and Silva do agood job describing the bifrontalbiorbital sphenoethmoidalapproach to the skull base.This approach allows full access tothe anterior skull base, the paranasalsinuses between the medial thirds ofthe maxillary sinuses, and the entireclivus medial to the carotid arteriesand the hypoglossal nerves and belowthe pituitary gland. It should berecognized that the full extent of theapproach is not always necessary, anda good degree of tailoring is possible.Specifically, I have not found it necessaryto perform orbital osteotomiesfor access to the paranasal sinuses orfor cribriform plate resection. A smallmidline frontal craniotomy with aninferior extension to the level of thefrontonasal suture is usually sufficient.