Surgical Outcomes of Extended Endoscopic Endonasal Approach for Skull Base Lesions.

August 23, 2026 updated by: Amr Gamal Hussein Mohamed, Assiut University
Aim of this study is to evaluate the surgical and functional outcomes of the extended endoscopic endonasal approach (EEEA) in the management of skull base lesions, including extent of resection, postoperative complications, and clinical outcomes.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

The extended endoscopic endonasal approach (EEEA) has emerged as a transformative technique in the surgical management of skull base lesions [1-3]. By utilizing natural nasal corridors, this minimally invasive approach provides direct midline access to a wide range of anterior, middle, and posterior skull base lesions, including pituitary adenomas, craniopharyngiomas, meningiomas, and chordomas [1,6]. Compared to traditional transcranial approaches, EEEA offers several advantages such as improved visualization with angled endoscopes, reduced brain retraction, and potentially lower morbidity [2,4].

Despite these advantages, achieving gross total resection (GTR) remains challenging and is influenced by multiple factors. Lesion characteristics such as size, location, consistency, and degree of invasion into critical neurovascular structures-particularly the cavernous sinus and internal carotid artery-play a crucial role [7,8]. Additionally, surgical factors including the chosen approach, reconstruction technique, and surgeon experience significantly impact the extent of resection and postoperative outcomes [4,5].

Understanding the predictors that influence the extent of resection is essential for optimizing surgical planning, improving patient outcomes, and minimizing complications such as cerebrospinal fluid leakage and neurological deficits [7]. Therefore, evaluating surgical outcomes and identifying key predictive factors in EEEA for skull base lesions remains an important area of ongoing research.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

30

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Locations

  • Egypt
      • Asyut, Egypt
        • Assiut University
        • Contact:
          • Assiut University Assiut Assiut University, Assiut University
          • Phone Number: Assiut University
          • Email: vp_grad@aun.edu.eg

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child
  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • 1. Adult patients aged 18 years or older. 2. Patients with radiologically confirmed skull base lesions (based on MRI ± CT) involving the anterior, middle, or posterior skull base.

    3. Patients undergoing lesion resection using the extended endoscopic endonasal approach (EEEA).

    4. Lesions amenable to endoscopic endonasal access, including: Pituitary adenomas with extrasellar extension Craniopharyngiomas Skull base meningiomas Chordomas and other midline skull base lesions 5. Availability of complete preoperative assessment, including: Clinical evaluation Neuro-ophthalmological assessment (when applicable) Radiological imaging 6. Availability of detailed intraoperative data, including surgical approach and intraoperative findings.

    7. Availability of early postoperative MRI (within 72 hours to 3 months) to assess the extent of resection.

    8. Patients with adequate postoperative follow-up (minimum 3 months) for evaluation of outcomes and complications.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • 1. Patients aged less than 18 years. 2. Patients who underwent transcranial approaches. 3. Lesions not primarily involving the skull base or not suitable for endoscopic endonasal access.

    4. Patients with incomplete clinical, radiological, or operative data. 5. Absence of early postoperative MRI, making assessment of the extent of resection unreliable.

    6. Patients with insufficient follow-up (less than 3 months). 7. Cases managed by biopsy only without attempted lesion resection. 8. Patients with severe comorbidities significantly affecting surgical outcome (e.g., advanced systemic disease), if they introduce bias in outcome assessment.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: skull base lesions
Surgical Outcomes of Extended Endoscopic Endonasal Approach for Skull Base Lesions.
Procedure: Endoscopic Endonasal Approach for Skull Base Lesions.
Surgical Outcomes of Extended Endoscopic Endonasal Approach for Skull Base Lesions

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Extent of lesion resection
Time Frame: 2 years
Extent of lesion resection (Gross total resection vs Subtotal resection) based on postoperative MRI
2 years

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Assiut University

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Helpful Links

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

September 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

November 30, 2028

Study Completion (Estimated)

December 31, 2028

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

August 23, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 23, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

August 26, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

August 26, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 23, 2026

Last Verified

August 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • Skull base lesions

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Study Data/Documents

  1. publication
    Information identifier: 41261509
    Information comments: no comments

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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