Abstract:Objective To analyze the clinical characteristics, diagnosis, treatment and outcome of skull base chordomas. Methods Clinical data of 66 patients suffering from skull base chordomas and treated surgically with full followup was analyzed retrospectively. Results The mean age of 66 patients was 39, ranging from 5 to 67. 40 patients were male and the other 26 were female. Headache, visual disturbance and abducent nerve palsy were the major symptoms or signs. Total tumor resection was achieved in 25 cases (32.5%), subtotal in 32 (47.6%) and partial in 9 (11.7%). Gamma knife radiosurgery (GKR) was applied to 28 patients (33.3%). The progressfree survival rates at 3 and 5 years were 82.6% and 45.0% respectively. The overall survival rates at 3 and 5 years were 89.2% and 70.9%. Conclusion Aggressive surgial treatment is suitable for skull base chordoma with low total resection, high recurrence and poor outcome. Favourable outcome for skull base chordomas can be achieved with the combination of aggressive surgical resection and GKR.