Minimally Invasive Corridors and Advanced Visualization in Skull Base Surgery: Refining Approaches, Resection Safety, and Clinical Outcomes

Surgical management of complex skull base tumors, encompassing benign expansive and malignant lesions across the anterior, middle, and posterior skull base has historically relied on extensive open transcranial approaches. While effective, conventional craniotomies frequently entail substantial brain retraction, neurovascular morbidity, and prolonged recovery times. Over the past decades, advancements in tailored minimally invasive corridors, including endoscopic transorbital surgery, expanded endoscopic endonasal approaches, and keyhole transcranial routes have transformed surgical oncology. These refined techniques enable direct, target-oriented visualization and effective tumor debulking or radical resection with minimal disruption to adjacent neurovascular structures.The primary goal of this Research Topic is to bridge current evidence gaps comparing traditional open approaches with tailored minimally invasive and keyhole corridors across the full spectrum of complex skull base tumors. We aim to consolidate multi-center surgical series, comparative clinical studies, meta-analyses, and anatomical technical reports focused on critical functional outcomes, such as cranial nerve preservation, neuro-ophthalmological outcomes, and reconstruction strategies. Furthermore, this collection seeks to highlight how cutting-edge visualization technologies refine surgical corridors, maximize resection safety, and improve long-term oncological and quality-of-life outcomes in complex skull base lesions. The proposed analysis will primarily focus on emerging and established surgical, including, but not limited to, high-definition 3D exoscopy, endoscope-assisted microsurgery, fluorescence-guided surgery, intraoperative neuronavigation, intraoperative ultrasound imaging, and augmented reality.We welcome Original Research, Systematic Reviews, Meta-Analyses, Technical Notes, Mini Reviews, Perspectives, and Case Series, monocentric and multicentric. Priority will be given to manuscripts reporting primary clinical evidence (Original research, comparative series, and prospective/retrospective cohort studies); Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses will be considered only when they provide substantial added value beyond the available primary literature. We welcome studies addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:• Comparative clinical outcomes, oncological radicality, and complication profiles between minimally invasive corridors and conventional open approaches for complex skull base tumors• Surgical anatomy, technical nuances, and decision-making algorithms defining tailored corridors across anterior, anterolateral, and posterolateral skull base compartments• Advances in intraoperative visualization including, but not limited to: high-definition 3D exoscopy, endoscope-assisted microsurgery, fluorescence-guided resection, intraoperative ultrasound imaging and augmented reality • Multidisciplinary functional preservation strategies, including cranial nerve monitoring, neuro-ophthalmological protection, and advanced reconstructive techniques • Combined multiportal, hybrid, and staged surgical approaches for extensive lesions involving multiple skull base compartments• Health-related quality of life, functional recovery, cosmetic outcomes, and patient-reported outcome measures following minimally invasive skull base surgeryPlease note: Manuscripts consisting solely of bioinformatics or computational analysis of public databases without independent cohort or biological validation are out of scope for this collection. Topic editors: Edoardo Porto, J. Manuel Revuelta Barbero, Giorgio Fiore, Francesco DiMeco Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/86083/minimally-invasive-corridors-and-advanced-visualization-in-skull-base-surgery-refining-approaches-resection-safety-and-clinical-outcomes