Closure of the sigmoid sinus in lateral skull base surgery

Closure of the sigmoid-jugular complex is generally planned during various surgical procedures on the skull base, either to repair a jugular foramen lesion or as the oncological boundary of the resection. A series of 218 cases of skull base tumour surgeries was analysed in which closure of the sigmoid-jugular complex was systematically planned (bilaterally in one case) in patients treated for jugular foramen paragangliomas, squamous cell carcinomas and other temporal bone tumours. Surgery was performed via a petro-occipital trans-sigmoid approach in 61 cases, an infratemporal A in 128, en bloc subtotal temporal bone resections in 10 and other approaches in 20. In our experience, planned unilateral (and, in one case, bilateral) closure of the sigmoid-jugular complex had no clinical consequences. The vicarious drainage of the skull base was always assessed preoperatively, revealing no contraindications to intraoperative sinus closure. Given the scarcity of literature on this subject, the present report shows that the procedure is associated with low morbidity and helps to improve our understanding of cerebral venous discharge.