Functional Surgery of Cerebellopontine Angle by Minimally Invasive Retrosigmoid Approach

The purpose of this book is to discover, popularize and practice the retrosigmoid approach as it was originally conceived “by otologists for otologists”, but of course it can be used by all surgical specialties involved with pathologies of the cerebellopontine angle. To understand why this approach has become indispensable for us, i.e. the otologists, we have to go back in time. During the 1970s, the operating microscope was widely used in all ENT centers, while its utility was just appearing in neurosurgery. The original concept of the “a minima” (French word for minimally invasive) retrosigmoid approach was to adapt the techniques of microsurgery of ear to surgery of the acousticofacial nerve bundle. Another purpose of developing the retrosigmoid approach was to reduce morbidity so as to distinguish it from the legendary seriousness of the suboccipital approach.