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The infratemporal fossa (ITF) is located deep in the skull base. Recently, the endoscopic transoral approach has enabled maxillofacial surgeons to access the ITF using a less invasive approach compared to the traditional transfacial and endonasal endoscopic approaches. The present study aims to provide maxillofacial surgeons with new data concerning direct endoscopic measurement and precise anatomical topography features of the endoscopic trans-lateral molar approach to ITF by comparing the endoscopic and regional anatomy of ITF. A clinical case receiving the proposed surgical approach is used to determine the feasibility of this technique. The anatomical data were obtained by measuring the bone anatomical landmarks and analyzing the CT imaging data using GE’s Advance Windows 4.1 software on 25 subjects (50 sides). Morphological pictures of the regional anatomy and endoscopic anatomy were obtained from 6 (12 sides) adult cadaver heads, and the anatomical features were described. The present study reports the management of one case using the proposed surgical approach. The proposed surgical approach clearly revealed neurovascular, muscular, and surgical landmarks in the ITF. The surgical case supports the minimally invasive treatment approach, which could rapidly access the ITF and completely excise benign tumors. The anatomical studies and surgical case presentation helps us understand the spatial relationship of surgical landmarks of the surgical approach to the ITF for the treatment of benign lesions in the deep cranial base area.

Background: The discovery of intracranial lymphatic system provides a new theory about cerebrospinal fluid circulation. In order to investigate the role of lymphatic drainage in hydrocephalus after intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH), three parts of experiments were performed.Methods: IVH model was produced by 200ul autologous blood injection into lateral ventricle of SD male rats. Perls Prussian blue reaction was used to confirm the ability of iron drainage through deep cervical lymph nodes (DCLNs) in part I. The part II measured the volume of ventricles by MR scanner , and the part III compared the ferritin level of area surrounding ventricles by Western blotting after IVH.Results: The ability of iron drainage through DCLNs was confirmed. DCLNs-excised rats got a 19.6% higher incidence of hydrocephalus than DCLNs-preserved rats at day 28 after IVH. And DCLNs-excised group showed higher ferritin level than DCLNs-preserved group at day 3 after IVH.Conclusion: The whole experiments revealed the role of intracranial lymphatic system in discharging iron out of central nervous system at acute phase of IVH, and proved the function in alleviating and avoiding hydrocephalus at chronic phase after IVH.