Use of Ultrasound for Navigating the Internal Carotid Artery in Revision Endoscopic Endonasal Skull Base Surgery

While the use of image-guided navigation is an excellent adjunct to the use of anatomical landmarks, dynamic changes that may occur in the position of critical structures are not accounted for during and after tumor resection. Unlike navigation, Doppler ultrasonography provides real-time imaging of the anterior skull base and can be used to accurately identify the location of vital structures during skull base surgery. A 56-year-old female initially presented with new onset left eye visual deficits. She previously underwent sublabial transsphenoidal subtotal resection of the tumor, confirmed as clival chordoma. She subsequently presented to our institution. She was treated with an expanded endonasal resection of the remaining chordoma followed by CyberKnife radiosurgery. Two years later, surveillance imaging identified tumor recurrence within the right clivus posterior to the carotid artery. Intraoperatively, in the previously operated irradiated skull base, the normal bony architecture of the sella was absent, resulting in the inability to distinguish the anterior genu of the internal carotid artery (ICA) from the adjacent tumor. Using Doppler ultrasonography, the course of the ICA was imaged in real time, allowing for safe, gross total tumor resection. In the setting of prior operation, radiation, or extensive disease, the normal bony architecture of the sella may be disrupted, placing the cavernous ICA at risk. We report what we believe is the first use of intraoperative ultrasound during the endoscopic endonasal approach in the setting of a previously operated, radiated sella.