Concentric craniotomy: removal of tumor involving the skull and the intracranial space.

Abstract

Removal of a tumor involving both the intracranial space and the skull presents technical challenges. This is especially so if there is a potential for significant hemorrhage due to a hemangioma or a significant attachment to the brain as with a meningioma. We describe a technique where the tumor attached to the skull is left undisturbed and a second wider concentric craniotomy exposes normal dura. The entire tumor, both intracranial and that involving the skull and dura, can then be removed as one specimen. The technique we describe, a concentric craniotomy, transforms a difficult operation with the potential for significant hemorrhage into a more standard removal of a convexity tumor.