Background Resection of petroclival meningioma (PCM) is difficult for neurosurgeons and usually brings poor performance status. In this study, we evaluated the possible risk factors for unfavorable clinical outcomes of surgical treatment of PCM, and tried to explore the optimal surgical strategies for better postoperative quality of life.Methods We recruited 57 patients (14 male, 43 female, mean age, 50.5 years) who underwent surgical resection of PCM in Huashan Hospital during 2002-2006. The primary outcomes including postoperative neurological deficits,modified Rankin scale (mRS) score and recurrence rate were evaluated, and all potential risk factors were assessed by the X2 test. Odds ratio and 95% confidence interval were calculated by univariate Logistic regression. The mean follow-up time was 34 months.Results Gross total resection was achieved in 58% of patients. One patient died during the perioperative period because of intracranial hemorrhage. Sixty-seven percent of patients experienced new postoperative neurological deficits and 26% had a higher mRS score at follow-up assessment. Postoperative complications were observed in 24 patients.Within the follow-up period, radiographic recurrence occurred in 12.3% of patients at a mean follow-up of 42 months.Postoperative radiosurgery was administered to 19 patients who had residual tumors or recurrence and no furtherprogression was found. Tumor adhesion, hypervascularity and engulfment of neurovascular structures were three risk factors for increased mRS score (P=0.0002; P=0.0051; P=0.0009). Tumor adherence to adjacent structures clearly affected the extent of resection (P=0.0029). The risk of postoperative cranial nerve deficits increased with tumor engulfment of neurovascular structures (P=0.0004).Conclusions Intraoperatively defined tumor characteristics played a critical role in identifying postoperative functional status. An individual treatment strategy after careful preoperative evaluation could help improve quality of life.