Skull Base Surgery Center

Find a Doctor & Schedule

We have doctors located throughout Manhattan.

Find a Doctor & Schedule

Recognition

In 2026, U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Hospitals” ranked NYU Langone the No. 1 hospital in the nation for neurology and neurosurgery for the fifth year in a row.

At NYU Langone, we understand that having a skull base tumor can be overwhelming. You need a team with the expertise—and the compassion—to guide you every step of the way. Our Skull Base Surgery Center offers unparalleled, coordinated care of complex benign and malignant skull base tumors. From the tip of the nose to the back of the head, our world-renowned team of neurosurgeons, ENT specialists, and eye and craniofacial surgeons work together to create a personalized treatment plan and deliver the best possible outcome for each patient.

With one of the nation’s largest volumes of skull base tumor cases, we bring exceptional depth and expertise to every case. Our unique approach combines unmatched surgical experience, advanced technologies, and research-driven care to deliver precise treatment tailored to your body and tumor type—all while preserving function and quality of life.

Skull Base Conditions We Treat

Our team treats all anterior (front of skull) and lateral (side of skull) skull base conditions, including these:

Acoustic neuromas (vestibular schwannomas)
Choleasteatomas
Cholesterol granulomas
Chordomas and chondrosarcomas
Craniofacial tumors
Craniopharyngioma
Esthesioneuroblastomas
Facial nerve tumors
Inverted papilloma
Juvenile angiofibromas
Meningiomas
Meningoceles and meningoencephaloceles
Orbital tumors, including hemangiomas, meningiomas, and neurofibromas
Osseous tumors, including fibrous dysplasia, osteomas, and osteosarcomas
Paragangliomas (glomus tumors)
Pituitary adenomas
Schwannomas (jugular, trigeminal, and vagal)
Sinonasal tumors (benign and cancerous)
Skull base radiation-induced necrosis and osteomyelitis
Nontumor conditions of the skull base, including inflammatory and infectious diseases, cerebrospinal fluid leaks, trigeminal neuralgia, geniculate neuralgia, glossopharyngeal, and hemifacial spasm

Skull base tumors arise in one of the body’s most delicate regions. These growths often press on critical nerves and blood vessels, causing symptoms like hearing loss, vision changes, facial weakness or numbness, dizziness, nasal obstruction, nosebleeds, and speech or swallowing problems. We treat both your condition and your symptoms, bringing in our dedicated experts to support every aspect of your care, from tumor removal to recovery of function.

Several male doctors stand in an operating room while performing a surgical procedure.

Our Multidisciplinary Approach to Care

Our expert neurosurgeons, otolaryngologists, oculoplastic surgeons, neuro-oncologists, endocrinologists, radiation oncologists, and audiologists are all here to guide your diagnosis, treatment planning, and recovery, and work closely with you and your family through every step of your care journey.

When you schedule your first visit with our team, you’ll typically begin with a consultation and testing—such as imaging or evaluations—based on your specific symptoms. After this initial assessment, your case is reviewed by our full multidisciplinary team. Together, we determine the most effective and safest treatment approach tailored to your anatomy, condition, and needs, ensuring that every decision reflects the collective expertise of our center.

Procedures are performed at Kimmel Pavilion in Manhattan. Following your treatment, our nursing, physical therapy, and audiology teams will personalize your recovery plan and coordinate your follow-up care and rehabilitation.

Treatment Options We Offer

We perform both traditional and specialized minimally invasive procedures with the most advanced tools available to improve precision and reduce recovery time. Our doctors use computer navigation to see exactly where they are operating, as well as intraoperative MRI imaging to help remove affected tissue while preserving healthy brain tissue.

Endoscopic and Minimally Invasive Brain Surgery

Many skull base tumors and conditions can be treated through small or hidden incisions—which cause less tissue damage and enable faster recoveries. Our team uses the following approaches for endoscopic brain surgery:

Endoscopic endonasal approach: surgery performed through the nose to treat skull base tumors, including pituitary tumors
Retrosigmoid/retromastoid, endoscope-assisted, or pure endoscopic: surgery performed behind the ear for acoustic neuromas and other lateral skull base tumors
Transorbital: surgery performed through small incisions in the eyelid, eyebrow, or skin crease (transorbital approach) to treat select orbital and skull base tumors  
Translabyrinthine: surgery performed through the inner ear to treat many inner ear and skull base tumors

Gamma Knife Radiosurgery 

For some tumors, we offer Gamma Knife radiosurgery, which delivers focused radiation beams to target cancer cells with precision. This outpatient procedure typically doesn’t require hospitalization and causes minimal side effects.

Nerve Decompression

For facial spasms, trigeminal neuralgia, and glossopharyngeal neuralgia (episodes of severe pain in the throat, tongue, ear, and tonsils), we can surgically relieve the pressure on the affected nerve by padding a normal blood vessel next to the brain, usually eliminating symptoms with a single surgery.

Minimally Invasive Endovascular Embolization

Many brain aneurysms can be treated through a minimally invasive procedure in which a tiny catheter is inserted into an artery, rather than through open brain surgery. We specialize in neurointerventional radiology with embolization, using advanced imaging to guide coils or stents into place to seal the aneurysm in addition to specialized surgical techniques.

Donato Pacione, MD, left, and Paul Gardner, MD, right, stand next to each other while smiling and looking straight ahead.

Advanced Research and Precision Tumor Care

At NYU Langone, research is directly embedded in patient care.

Our Skull Base Surgery Center is one of the few centers worldwide using next-generation genetic analysis techniques to profile and predict tumor behavior and develop targeted treatment options—providing you with smarter, more personalized care.

We analyze data on our patient outcomes over time to continually inform our techniques and deliver the best results for every patient. At our Skull Base Anatomy Laboratory, our experts have pioneered several innovative techniques to make surgery less invasive and improve patients’ quality of life. Our center attracts surgeons from around the globe to learn from our specialists.

We have also developed innovative surgical techniques specifically designed to address key concerns following endonasal surgery, including restoring nasal breathing and sense of smell. These techniques, including the use of protective sheets, minimize trauma to the nasal tissues and safeguard delicate tissues during surgery. We provide close postoperative care in collaboration with our nose and sinus specialists, who perform meticulous in-office care and cleaning to promote healing and help patients regain optimal nasal function as soon as possible.

Through close collaboration with the Division of Neuro-Oncology, our patients also have access to emerging clinical trials and cutting-edge care.  

A group of male doctors stand together on a staircase, smiling and looking straight ahead while posing for a photo.