Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2010 Jan;20(1):27-33.
doi: 10.1055/s-0029-1242982.

A prospective evaluation of short-term health-related quality of life in patients undergoing anterior skull base surgery

Abraham Abergel  1 , Dan M Fliss, Nevo Margalit, Ziv Gil
Affiliations

A prospective evaluation of short-term health-related quality of life in patients undergoing anterior skull base surgery

Abraham Abergel et al. Skull Base. 2010 Jan.

Abstract

We evaluated the health-related quality of life (QOL) of patients undergoing anterior skull base tumor resection. The Anterior Skull Base Surgery QOL questionnaire, a disease-specific multidimensional instrument dedicated to this population, was used to collect and prospectively analyze demographic, medical, and QOL data on 48 patients. Thirty-nine patients completed the questionnaire preoperatively and at 6 and 12 months postoperatively. Seventeen patients (44%) had malignant histology and 22 (56%) had benign tumors. The overall QOL score decreased significantly at 6 months postoperatively (p < 0.05) and improved significantly at 12 months postoperatively (p < 0.04). The emotional domain improved significantly at 12 months postoperatively compared with the preoperative scores (p < 0.03). Patients with malignant tumors had lower scores at 6 months postoperatively compared with patients with benign lesions (p < 0.002), although the scores for both groups at 12 months postoperatively were similar. Adjuvant radiation therapy was associated with a poor QOL (p < 0.005). The results of this prospective study show that the overall deteriorated QOL of patients after anterior skull base tumor resection returns to baseline by 1 year after surgery. Histology and radiotherapy are significant predictors of health-related QOL in this population.

Keywords: Craniofacial resection; cancer; cranial base; subcranial approach.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Estimates of quality of life scores before and after anterior skull base tumor resections. There was a significant decrease in the overall scores at 6 months after surgery (p < 0.05) and a recovery to baseline at 1 year after surgery. Pre Op, preoperatively.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Quality of life (QOL) score in the emotional domain. (A) Overall QOL scores. (B) QOL scores in patients with benign tumors showing significant improvement between 6 and 12 months after surgery (p < 0.05). (C) QOL scores in patients with malignant tumors showing a decline in scores at 6 months after surgery and improvement at 12 months postoperatively (p < 0.005). Pre Op, preoperatively.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Impact of histology and prior surgery on quality of life (QOL) scores. (A) Malignant histology (open circles) was associated with lower overall QOL scores at 6 months after surgery, whereas patients with benign tumors (closed circles) had stable QOL scores (p < 0.005). (B) Prior skull base surgery had no significant impact on QOL scores (previous surgery, open circles). Pre Op, preoperatively.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Patel S G, Singh B, Polluri A, et al. Craniofacial surgery for malignant skull base tumors: report of an international collaborative study. Cancer. 2003;98:1179–1187. - PubMed
    1. Gil Z, Patel S G, Singh B, et al. International Collaborative Study Group Analysis of prognostic factors in 146 patients with anterior skull base sarcoma: an international collaborative study. Cancer. 2007;110:1033–1041. - PubMed
    1. Gil Z, Abergel A, Spektor S, et al. Quality of life following surgery for anterior skull base tumors. Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2003;129:1303–1309. - PubMed
    1. Gil Z, Abergel A, Spektor S, Shabtai E, Khafif A, Fliss D M. Development of a cancer-specific anterior skull base quality-of-life questionnaire. J Neurosurg. 2004;100:813–819. - PubMed
    1. Gil Z, Abergel A, Spektor S, Khafif A, Fliss D M. Patient, caregiver, and surgeon perceptions of quality of life following anterior skull base surgery. Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2004;130:1276–1281. - PubMed