Imaging Evaluation and Treatment of Vascular Lesions at the Skull Base

A wide range of congenital and acquired vascular entities may occur in the skull base. Although some are diagnosed incidentally and merit no treatment, others may require surgical or image-guided endovascular or percutaneous approaches for management. The complex anatomy of the skull base can make diagnosis challenging. A combination of computed tomography scans and MR imaging, and catheter angiography may be required for diagnosis and mapping. Endovascular treatment plays an important part in many of the acquired vascular lesions, such as vascular neoplasms and traumatic dissections/aneurysms. Endovascular treatment is generally considered the gold standard for the treatment of vascular shunts at the skull base.