Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 19, 2026
Endoscopic Endonasal Trans-sphenoidal Approach: Minimally Invasive Surgery for Pituitary Adenomas
Published on: January 17, 2018
Longitudinal splitting of optic pathways by non-functioning pituitary macroadenoma: report of two cases
Filippo Gagliardi1, Nicola Boari, Marco Losa
1Department of Neurosurgery, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Vita-Salute University, Milan, Italy. gagliardi.filippo@hsr.it
Purpose:
Pituitary macroadenomas with suprasellar extension present tight relationships with optic pathways; only one case of optic nerve penetration by a pituitary adenoma has been reported previously.
Methods:
We report two cases of patients suffering from non-functioning pituitary macroadenomas with intra-operative findings of longitudinal splitting of the optic pathways.
Results:
In both cases the patients were first operated on by a trans-sphenoidal route and the residual suprasellar tumour was resected by a transcranial surgery.
Conclusion:
The patients presented a good visual recovery, suggesting that the splitting of the optic pathways has not jeopardised the functional and anatomical integrity of the optic fibres in the reported cases.
