Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma with Skull Base Invasion and Intracranial Spread: CT Characteristics

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) frequently invades the skull base and spreads intracranially. While we used CT scans to identify NPC with skull base invasion and intracranial spread, the routes of tumor infiltration were also studied. Of the one hundred and three patients retrospectively studied, fifty-two patients had skull base bony erosion, and forty had combined intracranial spread. Fifty-one patients had no evidence of skull base bony destruction, but one of them had cavernous sinus involvement. While sphenoid sinus, foramen lacerum and clivus were the most common sites of skull base invasion, intracranial spread occured most frequently in cavernous sinus, middle cranial fossa and posterior cranial fossa. The most common route of cavernous sinus spread was through the foramen lacerum, followed by sphenoid sinus destruction. CT scan with axial and coronal sections can help us to clearly define the routes of tumor infiltration.