How I do it: a target-tailored lateral basal approach for selected cerebellopontine angle and adjacent skull base lesions

Abstract

Abstract Background The lateral basal approach (LBA) is an anatomy-guided posterolateral skull base route; its contribution is not supine positioning or fixed-retractor avoidance alone. Method Layer-by-layer dissection of the interlaminar fatty tissue and jugular process removal provide a lower inferior-to-superior trajectory. Soft-tissue and caudal exposure are tailored to the target. Case 1 illustrates the core corridor and Case 4 a focused caudal application. Conclusion The LBA offers a target-tailored corridor for selected cerebellopontine angle and adjacent skull base lesions, but its comparative value remains undetermined.