ABSTRACT
A variety of benign and malignant lesions of the temporal bone have been described (Table 22.1) (I), but sarcomas that involve the temporal bone are rare. The literature contains scattered small series, case reports, and literature reviews of temporal bone sarcomas; however, most have too few cases to scientifically determine a superior treatment approach. However, most studies provide an opinion or theory on how to handle these rare and aggressive tumors. A few definitions are important to allow proper interpretation of these scientific reports. For the purposes of this chapter, radical surgery is defined as total tumor removal with sacrifice of a vital structure, such as a nerve or artery. En bloc resection refers to surgery, usually radical, designed to circumscribe and remove the entire tumor without violating the tumor margins. Complete or wide surgical excision refers to surgery that attempts to obtain clear margins, but does not necessarily imply radical surgery or avoidance of tumor transgression. In fact, tumor is often removed piecemeal during such procedures. Subtotal resection implies that gross residual disease remains after surgery. Examples of subtotal excision include surgical debulking and biopsy.
