Study of hypotonic polyuria after trans-sphenoidal pituitary adenomectomy

We have studied the postoperative diuresis patterns in 116 patients following the removal of a pituitary adenoma using the trans-sphenoidal approach. We observed a normal diuresis (ND) in 55 patients and a hypotonic polyuria (HP) in 61 patients, consisting of water elimination (WE = 45 cases) and transient diabetes insipidus (DI = 16 cases). We investigated the problem of predicting these patterns from eight pre-operative factors by applying stepwise logistic discriminant analysis. We demonstrated that DI was significantly associated with a posterior localization of the adenoma in the pituitary gland and that WE was more frequently observed in cases of suprasellar expansion, in young patients, and in prolactin secreting tumors. Finally, we discuss the pathogenic role of these factors in the occurrence of HP, taking into account inhibition of vasopressin secretion and possible fluid overload.