Suboccipital Craniectomy — Median Incision

Abstract

To illustrate the midline incision in a suboccipital craniotomy, a metastatic tumor of the vermis and right cerebellar hemisphere has been chosen (Figs. 13 and 14). Solitary metastases within the central nervous system should be removed. Many years of functional activity have been added to patients lives even when repeated operations are necessary to remove “solitary” lesions. One patient especially comes to mind. She had three posterior fossa operations over a 12-year period for a metastatic breast lesion. The patient finally died 15 years after her first neurosurgical procedure, and at autopsy the only tumor found was within the cerebellar vermis. Another patient returned to our hospital yearly for seven years to have the current senior resident remove his” solitary “ metastatic melanoma.