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Updated: Aug 13, 2026
Endoscopic Endonasal Trans-sphenoidal Approach: Minimally Invasive Surgery for Pituitary Adenomas
Published on: January 17, 2018
[Transsphenoidal microsurgical removal of suprasellar extension pituitary adenomas]
1Department of Neurosurgery, Xi-Jing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an 710032.
Objective:
To probe the diagnosis, transsphenoidal microsurgical technique and outcomes of patients with suprasellar extension pituitary adenomas (SEPA).
Methods:
A total of 248 patients suffering from SEPA were diagnosed by CT or MRI scanning in our department. All adenomas had suprasellar extension (extension size: > 10 mm). The tumors were removed via sphenoidal approach under a microscope.
Results:
The gross total removal of adenoma was achieved in 196 patients (79.0%), and subtotal removal in 41 patients (16.5%). Partial removal was carried out in the remaining 11 patients (4.4%) with fibrous or dumbbell-shaped adenomas. There were no deaths after surgery. Long-term follow-up observation (median: 3.5 years) in 227 patients revealed good recovery in 176 (77.5%) and late recurrence in 51 (22.5%). Those patients with tumor recurrence underwent reoperation, drug therapy and radiosurgery either alone or in combination.
Conclusion:
Except for fibrous and dumbbell-shaped ones, microsurgical technique via transsphenoidal approach is a safe and effective way to remove SEPA.
