[Analysis and management of delayed cerebrospinal fluid rhinorrhea after invasive pituitary adenoma surgery]

Objective: To investigate the related factors and treatments of delayed cerebrospinal fluid rhinorrhea (CFR) after invasive pituitary adenoma (IPA) surgery. Methods: One hundred and forty-two patients with IPA treated in Tianjin Huanhu Hospital from January 2014 to January 2019 were analyzed retrospectively, including 62 males and 80 females, aging from 38 to 67 years. The clinical data of patients before and after operation were collected. All patients with postoperative CFR underwent endoscopic CFR repair. During the operation, residual or recurrent pituitary adenomas were resected, the dura around the leak was enlarged and the necrotic tissue was removed. For those who still had fluid leakage after repair, the necrotic tissue was cleaned up, the leakage was filled and reinforced under endoscopy. Endoscopic rhinorrhea repair was performed if necessary. The cerebrospinal fluid leak was repaired with multi-layer materials. The related risk factors of delayed CFR after operation were analyzed. SPSS 19.0 software was used for statistical analysis. Results: Among the 142 patients in this group, 64 cases underwent total tumor resection and 78 cases underwent non-total tumor resection. They were followed up for 6 to 72 months. Thirty-one cases had delayed CFR, with an incidence of 21.83%, and occurred between 1 and 5 years postoperatively, with an average of 2.4 years. All 31 patients with delayed CFR underwent endoscopic CFR repair. The nasal endoscopy was rechecked at 2 weeks, 1 month, 3 months and 6 months after operation. Twenty-eight patients were repaired successfully after 1 operation, while 2 patients after 2 operations and 1 patient after 3 operations. These patients were followed up for 6 to 60 months, and no CFR occurred again. Univariate analysis showed that the degree of tumor resection, recurrence, size, texture, postoperative radiotherapy and operator experience were the risk factors of delayed CFR (all P<0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that the degree of tumor resection and recurrence were the highest independent risk factors for postoperative CFR, and tumor size, texture, postoperative radiotherapy and operator experience were the independent risk factors in this study. Conclusions: Delayed CFR after IPA is related to the degree of tumor resection, recurrence, size, texture, postoperative radiotherapy and the operator experience. It is necessary to completely remove the tumor under endoscope, to expand resection of the dura and necrotic tissue around the leak, to repair the defect with multi-layer materials, to follow-up closely and to repair timely after operation.