Image-guided, endoscopic, transcervical resection of cervical chordoma Technical note

Chordomas are rare tumors that arise from the sacrum, spine, and skull base. Surgical management of these tumors can be difficult, given their locally destructive behavior and predilection for growing near delicate and critical structures. En bloc resection with negative margins can be difficult to perform without damaging adjacent structures and causing significant clinical morbidity. For chordomas of the upper cervical spine, surgical options traditionally involve transoral or submandibular approaches. The authors report the use of the image-guided, endoscopic, transcervical approach to the upper cervical spine as an alternative to traditional techniques for addressing upper cervical spine tumors, particularly for tumors where gross-total resection is not feasible. (DOI: 10.3171/2009.10.SPINE09393)