MANDIBULAR SIGMOID NOTCH - A WINDOW FOR CT-GUIDED BIOPSIES OF LESIONSIN THE PERIPHARYNGEAL AND SKULL BASE REGIONS

Biopsy of lesions in the peripharyngeal and skull base regions frequen tly is difficult with standard computed tomography-guided retromandibu lar and retromaxillary approaches. An alternative approach via the man dibular sigmoid notch (concave superior margin of the mandibular ramus ) was used in 13 patients. It provided easy access to deep lesions and to areas such as the skull base and clivus, which are unapproachable with other methods.