Center for the Treatment of Cranial Base Tumors


Overview and Facts about the Center for the Treatment of Cranial Base Tumors

Loyola Medicine’s renowned Center for Cranial Tumors was established in 1987 for the management of patients with extensive tumors of the head, neck, sinuses, brain and skull.

Loyola’s specialty surgeons each bring unique expertise to treat cranial base tumors, which often surround the nerves and blood vessels traveling to or from the underside of the brain. The center has developed innovative methods for the safe and complete removal of difficult-to-reach cranial base tumors and lesions that might otherwise be considered inoperable.

Loyola strives to coordinate diagnosis, surgery techniques and other therapies to achieve the best possible outcome for your condition. Treatment options may include state-of-the-art neuroradiology, laser and intraoperative microscopic techniques, including endoscopic skull base surgery and use of a fully equipped speech and swallowing laboratory.

We seek involvement from your referring doctor to plan your treatment and follow-up care. Once you have completed treatment and rehabilitation, our goal is to return you to the care of your referring doctor.

Why Choose Loyola for Treatment of Cranial Base Tumors?

Loyola’s compassionate team understands that cranial base tumors can be life-changing not only for the patient, but also for family members. Loyola takes a multidisciplinary approach to patient care and provides support services for patients and families.

As an academic medical center, Loyola provides compassionate, exceptional care to patients and trains future leaders in otolaryngology, head and neck, sinus and neurosurgery. Our neuro intensive care unit is staffed by dedicated Neurologist and trained neurology nurses, who have earned Magnet status.

Loyola’s highly experienced team has performed more than 3,000 combined surgeries with low morbidity, shortened hospital stays, few complications and high-long term survival and cure rates of the following benign (noncancerous) and malignant (cancerous) tumors:

  • Acoustic neuroma and other nerve origin tumors
  • Chondroma
  • Chondrosarcoma
  • Chordoma
  • Epidermoid tumor
  • Esthesioneuroblastoma
  • Glomus tumor and other paragangliomas
  • Lower cranial neuroma
  • Meningioma
  • Olfactory groove meningioma
  • Osteosarcoma
  • Parotid and salivary gland tumors
  • Pituitary tumor
  • Sinus malignancy
  • Squamous cell carcinoma
  • Temporal bone cancer

We also treat many kinds of nonneoplastic lesions and cranial nerve conditions, including:

  • Arteriovenous malformation (AVM)
  • Brain abscess
  • Brain aneurysm
  • Cerebrospinal fluid fistula
  • Complex skull fracture
  • Dermoid
  • Encephalocoele
  • Fibrous dysplasia
  • Graves ophthalmopathy
  • Hemifacial spasm
  • Neuralgia
  • Trigeminal neuralgia and other facial neuralgias

Loyola offers a range of diagnostic tools to evaluate your condition and determine the best course of treatment, including:

  • Biopsy
  • Cerebral angiography
  • CT scans (computed tomography)
  • Endovascular tumor embolization and aneurysm treatment
  • Hearing tests
  • MRI (magnetic resource imaging)
  • PET scans (positron emission tomography)
  • Radionuclide bone scans
  • Venous blood sampling
  • X-rays

Doctor with patient

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Featured Center Treatment Cranial Base Tumors Videos

Loyola Medicine’s Multidisciplinary Center for Cranial Base Surgery