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Updated: Nov 1, 2025
Role of Diffusion MRI Tractography in Endoscopic Endonasal Skull Base Surgery
Published on: July 5, 2021
Posterior Skull Base Anatomy and Pathology
Yuh-Shin Chang1, Gul Moonis2, Amy F Juliano3
1Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
Abstract:
A posterior skull base lesion is an uncommon radiological finding that may be noted incidentally or during targeted imaging of patients with clinical symptoms attributable to the lesion. It may be inflammatory or neoplastic in etiology, or may simply be an anatomic variant or a "don't-touch" lesion that should not be misinterpreted as something more ominous. A systematic approach to the evaluation of the posterior skull base is therefore required in order to differentiate lesions requiring immediate attention from those requiring a less urgent course of action or none at all. This review will focus on the imaging features of pathologic conditions that are more commonly encountered in posterior skull base CT and MR examinations.
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