Surgical management of lesions affecting the anterior optic pathways

Although benign neoplasms are the most common lesions of the anterior visual pathways that lend themselves to a combined neurosurgical and ophthalmic surgical treatment, malignant neoplasms, infections (especially fungal), and vascular lesions are also sometimes treated via a combined approach. Recent advances in the field of skull base surgery have made it possible to treat complicated lesions in precarious locations with increasing margins of safety and decreasing morbidity. The role of the neurosurgeon in managing selected patients with lesions of the anterior a visual pathway should not be underestimated.