Operative management of chromophobe pituitary tumour recurrences

Twenty-three operations were performed for recurrences of previously treated chromophobe pituitary adenomas. Eleven operations were transcranial, and 12 were transsphenoidal. Twenty-two patients were operated on because of deteriorating eyesight; this improved in ten patients, deteriorated further in three, and did not significantly change in the remaining nine patients. There was one postoperative death. The patients generally had hypopituitarism already at the time of diagnosis, and it tended to increase during treatment. The results are certainly worse than after primary operations, but there is no alternative for handling a sizeable recurrence that has already affected the optic pathways.