Transsphenoidal pituitary surgery
Possibly the most exciting development in neuro
endoscopy is in transsphenoidal pituitary surgery. The
resection of an extension of a pituitary adenoma into
the cavernous sinus has been technically difficult up to
now as the tumour lies outside the operating field. Side
viewing endoscopes can see round this corner. This
should improve the success rate of surgery for
hormone secreting tumours, which demand complete
tumour removal for cure. This method of surgery is
called endoscopically assisted surgery because it is sim
ply added on to the existing procedure. Some surgeons
are experimenting with the transsphenoidal proce
dure carried out entirely through the endoscope. This
disturbs tissues even less, although it does not seem to
shorten the patient's stay in hospital. Whether the
results of this form of surgery will be as good as those
of standard surgery in both endocrine and visual terms
remains to be seen. Cure rates of about 75% for
hormonal disturbance and 80% for improvement of
vision can be expected with standard surgery.
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1 comment:
I had transsphenoidal endoscopic surgery with Dr. Jho at AGH in Pittsburgh. Dr.Jho was one of the first to develop the technique for this type of surgery. His technique is amazing. Most of all, it does not leave the patient feeling like s/he had life-altering/life-saving surgery although the opposite is true. I owe my life to Dr. Jho, and I am in remission 18 months later.
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