Quality of Life Considerations in Endoscopic Endonasal Management of Anterior Cranial Base Tumors

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Considering quality of life (QOL) is critical when discussing treatment options for patients undergoing endoscopic endonasal skull base surgery for cancers at the base of the skull. In this review article, we examine the different questionnaires that have been developed to assess QOL for these patients, consider how both tumors themselves and different surgical approaches have been found to affect QOL, as well as look ahead to new and emerging tools and techniques aimed to help preserve and improve QOL in patients with anterior cranial base malignancies. ABSTRACT: Considering quality of life (QOL) is critical when discussing treatment options for patients undergoing endoscopic endonasal skull base surgery (EESBS) for cancers at the base of the skull. Several questionnaires have been developed and validated in the last 20 years to explore QOL in this patient population, including the Anterior Skull Base Questionnaire, Skull Base Inventory, EESBS Questionnaire, and the Sino-Nasal Outcome Test for Neurosurgery. The Sino-Nasal Outcomes Test-22 and Anterior Skull Base Nasal Inventory-12 are other tools that have been used to measure sinonasal QOL in anterior cranial base surgery. In addition to pathology-related perturbations in QOL endoscopic surgical options (transsellar approaches, anterior cranial base surgery, and various reconstructive techniques) all have unique morbidities and QOL implications that should be considered. Finally, we look ahead to new and emerging techniques and tools aimed to help preserve and improve QOL for patients with anterior cranial base malignancies.