SKULL BASE CHONDROMA OF EXTRACRANIAL ORIGIN

Methods. Two cases of chondroma at the skull base, most probably of ex tracranial origin, are presented: one at the apex of the petrous pyram id and the other in the infratemporal fossa. Results. In the second ca se, the surgical findings suggested that the tumor originated in the c artilagineous part of the eustachian tube. The world literature was re viewed and only three cases of extracranial chondromas at the skull ba se, and ten cases of chondromas of the nasopharynx have been described so far. Conclusions. The potential origins of chondromas at the skull base are discussed: Cartilagineous remnants at the basisphenoid and b asiocciput or the cartilagineous part of the eustachian tube seem to b e the most probable origin.