The Rush Skull Base Center offers state-of-the art care from skilled, board-certified physicians, Roham Moftakhar, MD, and R. Mark Wiet, MD, for skull base tumors and related conditions. Skull base tumors are very complex, and no two patients will have the same needs. We customize treatment for each patient's needs, choosing the least invasive treatment possible for the best outcome. At Rush, you can count on being treated with the most advanced, comprehensive care possible. In addition, all patients' cases are presented at a weekly meeting called Tumor Board. Doctors from many skull base specialties discuss patients' symptoms and test results to develop the best possible treatment plan. We then work with our patients to include them in managing their care.

As part of its broad range of otolaryngological and surgical services, the Rush Skull Base Center specializes in providing diagnosis and individualized treatment for adults and children with skull base tumors. Our treatment goal is to eliminate the known tumor, deter its recurrence and prevent the emergence of microscopic cancer cells. We also strive to rehabilitate patients to their desired quality of life, working with them to preserve or restore physiologic function, reasonable appearance and ability to interact socially.

Using special instruments, highly trained surgeons can access the underside of the brain to reach tumors that may have formerly been termed inoperable. Skull base surgery is minimally invasive as surgeons access the area needing treatment through the skull’s natural openings, the mouth (trans-oral), the nose (trans-nasal) and above the eye (supra-orbital).
We use state-of-the-art instruments for detailed video examinations of the larynx, sinuses and throat, including the following:

• Transnasal fiberoptic video laryngoscopy and esophagoscopy
• Fine needle aspiration biopsy
• Transoral and percutaneous vocal fold injections for vocal cord paralysis or other voice and swallowing disorders
• Safe transoral biopsy of tumors of the larynx, tongue and throat performed in the office, eliminating the need for surgical biopsy and enabling more rapid and accurate diagnosis
   

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