The UTHealth Houston Skull Base Program

Physicians and staff at the UTHealth Houston Skull Base Program deliver integrated, multidisciplinary care to adult and pediatric patients through a single, coordinated pathway. Structured to simplify access for patients and referring clinicians, the program was named a North American Skull Base Society Multidisciplinary Team of Distinction for 2026. It brings together a highly experienced team of subspecialists who treat patients with complex disorders and diseases of the skull base at the Texas Medical Center.

The program’s North American Skull Base Society designation ensures collaboration across neurosurgery, otorhinolaryngology-head and neck surgery, neuro-otology, endocrinology, neuro-ophthalmology, oculoplastics, facial reanimation, reconstructive plastic surgery, radiation oncology, neuropathology, and neuroradiology. Our Skull Base Clinical Review Board meets twice monthly for coordinated case discussion and treatment planning.

Conditions Treated

Tumors and Cysts

• Craniopharyngiomas
• Chordomas and chondrosarcomas
• Epidermoid cysts
• Meningiomas
• Metastatic tumors
• Nasopharyngeal carcinoma
• Olfactory neuroblastoma
• Orbital tumors
• Paragangliomas
• Pituitary adenomas
• Rathke’s cleft cysts
• Vestibular schwannomas (acoustic neuromas) and other cranial nerve schwannomas

Other Skull Base Pathologies

• Basilar invagination
• Bowhunter syndrome
• CSF leaks (spontaneous or traumatic, with or without pseudotumor cerebri)
• Cranial neuralgias (trigeminal, glossopharyngeal, and occipital)
• Eagle syndrome
• Encephaloceles
• Hemifacial spasm
• Inflammatory and infectious skull base processes (e.g., osteomyelitis)
• Meningoceles
• Skull base fractures

Expertise and Experience

Our fellowship-trained skull base team has many years of collaborative experience managing highly complex and rare conditions, with high-level expertise in both endoscopic and open skull base approaches. For diagnosis, patients have access to advanced imaging and subspecialties of pathology.

Advanced surgical and treatment capabilities include:

• Minimally invasive and endoscopic skull base surgery, including the endoscopic endonasal approach
• Complex open skull base procedures when indicated, including retrosigmoid/retromastoid, translabyrinthine, and transorbital approaches
• Advanced intraoperative technology, including 4K HD digital visualization and navigation systems
• Radiation treatment options that include stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS), IMRT, and fractionated radiation therapy

Streamlined Access and Care Coordination for Your Patients

You and your patients can access care through a single phone number and a digital referral form. We review all referrals promptly, and patients are contacted within two business days and seen within seven days when clinically appropriate. When possible, we see patients in same-day multidisciplinary visits. Cases are reviewed promptly by the Skull Base Clinical Review Board, with follow-up patient communication by the end of the same week.

Patient-Centered Experience

A dedicated nurse navigator and referral coordinator provide concierge-level support and integrated services, including social work. Our emphasis is on efficient care delivery that allows patients to return to referring physicians for ongoing management.

Research and Education

Our team is actively committed to education and innovation. Patients have access to clinical trials, and physicians who want to advance their training may apply to either the Skull Base Surgery Fellowship in the Vivian L. Smith Department of Neurosurgery or the Rhinology Fellowship in the Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery. 

Why Refer to the UTHealth Houston Skull Base Program?

As a physician, you can count on true multidisciplinary decision-making while avoiding serial referrals; faster diagnosis and treatment planning; expertise in complex cases often referred after prior treatment or difficult diagnosis; and coordinated care that supports the care you provide and your patients’ needs.

Meet the Team