[Surgical treatment of hormone-producing pituitary adenomas]

Transsphenoidal surgical treatment is established as a treatment of hormonally active pituitary tumours, except prolactinomas. The cure rates in studies of large series of patients are varying. The volume of patients at Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen is limited, and in order to maintain sufficient experience, one surgeon performs all procedures. The aim of this study was to study the rates of cure and complications in patients who had undergone this procedure.

We did a retrospective survey evaluating the operative results of one surgeon operating hormonally active pituitary tumours from 1993 through 2002 at Haukeland University Hospital. Data were collected from medical and surgical case records.

Primary surgery cured 37 out of 57 patients. There were 13 complications, including one death in hospital. Twenty patients received additional treatment with surgery, radiation therapy, or adrenalectomy. Thirteen of these patients received medical treatment with either somatostatin analogues or dopamine agonists.

Our study indicates that one surgeon can achieve results for transsphenoidal surgery that are on par with results reported from larger centres.