The international course Skull Base Week , which runs from Wednesday 9 to Friday 11 March, will address the latest procedures in the surgical treatment of skull base tumours.
Organised by the Skull Base Units of the Bellvitge University Hospital (HUB) and the Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau-Hospital del Mar, the course consists of a theoretical part on descriptive anatomy, which will then be put into practice in the laboratory, and another of live surgeries. Thus, on the last day of the course, participants will be able to watch live (from the HUB auditorium) two surgeries that will be carried out simultaneously at Sant Pau and Bellvitge hospitals.
Neurosurgeons Albert Torres, from the HUB, and Fernando Muñoz, from the joint service between Hospital de Sant Pau and Hospital del Mar, are leading the course and will be in charge of performing and commenting on the two live interventions, which are one of the main novelties of this year's edition, the first post-pandemic one.
The treatment of skull base tumours is highly complex and not without major complications. They require a very good knowledge of anatomy and surgical technique. They are clearly multidisciplinary in nature, which is why the medical teams that perform these operations are made up of neurosurgeons, otorhinolaryngologists and maxillofacial surgeons.
The Skull Base Unit of Bellvitge Hospital is a national reference for the treatment of patients affected by this type of tumour. In 2021, it performed more than 100 skull base surgeries, 56 of which were highly complex.
The annual skull base surgery course has been held for more than a decade, but this is a particularly relevant edition as it is the resumption after the pandemic, with the new name Skull Base Week, which reaffirms its international character, and lengthening its duration to assemble a more complete programme. With this series of novelties, the course has been met with great expectation and has already been sold out two months ago.