Foramen magnum meningioma approached by the midline subtonsilar approach - Revisiting Cushing's classification of craniospinal meningiomas.

Background: The management of foramen magnum meningiomas (FMMs) has been a challenge for skull base neurosurgeons. Since the initial description of a FMM in 1872, various surgical approaches have been described. Posterior and posterolateral FMMs are safely removed through a standard midline suboccipital approach. Nevertheless, we still face controversy regarding the management of anterior or anterolateral lesions. Case Description: A 47-year-old patient presented with progressive headaches, unsteadiness, and tremor. Magnetic resonance imaging showed an FMM that caused significant displacement of the brainstem. Conclusion: This operative video highlights a safe and effective surgical technique for the resection of an anterior foramen magnum meningioma.

[Expansive laminoplasty: an alternative for the treatment of cervical spondyloarthrosis]. / Laminoplastia expansiva: uma alternativa no tratamento da mielopatia espondilótica cervical.

We describe the surgical technique of expansive cervical laminoplasty and analyse the results in 28 patients treated by this method for cervical spondylotic myelopathy with a minimum follow-up of six months. Twenty-four patients (86%) had clinical improvement according to the Nurick scale while three (10%) had no improvement and one patient died on the first days post-operatively. The good results achieved demonstrate that this technique is simple, effective and has few complications on the treatment of spondylotic myelopathy.