OBJECTIVE: Transsphenoidal surgery for lactotroph pituitary neuroendocrine tumor (PitNET) lowers serum prolactin concentrations, occasionally below the normal range. However, the clinical significance of postoperative hypoprolactinemia is still unclear. In this study, we retrospectively reviewed the female patients with lactotroph PitNET who were treated with transsphenoidal surgery to elucidate the influence of postoperative hypoprolactinemia on regular menstruation restoration and endocrinological remission.
RESULTS: The serum prolactin levels in all thirty three participating females had decreased following surgery. Serum prolactin levels in seven patients had decreased below the lower limit of normal ranges (hypoproactinemia group) and in the remaining twenty six patients, it was within the normal range (non-hypoproractinemia group). In hypoprolactinemia group, regular menstruation was restored in all patients with only lactotroph axis deficiency. Nine patients from the non-hypoprolactinemia group experienced re-elevation of serum prolactin concentration (27%). No patient in hypoprolactinemia group experienced the relapse of hyperprolactinemia. These data suggest that early postoperative hypoprolactinemia after transsphenoidal surgery for lactotroph PitNET is not only a good predictive factor for endocrinological remission but also no unfavorable effects on regular menstruation restoration.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness of a \"telestration\" system in which the mentor annotates the view of the surgical field, for endoscopic transsphenoidal surgery (ETS).
METHODS: The use of telestration was evaluated for sellar floor-opening during ETS and for a task performed using ETS simulation training. During ETS, the mentor outlined the opening area of the sella turcica on the monitor and then the trainee surgeon opened the sella, either with the telestration displayed (telestration (+) group, n=8) or without (telestration (-) group, n=7). In the task using an ETS training model, 18 subjects were asked to touch the indicated targets with the forceps, once with the instructions given via telestration and once with verbal instructions only.
RESULTS: During ETS, the telestration (+) group had a significantly higher concordance rate between the planned bone window and actual bone window than the telestration (-) group (92.97±4.16% vs. 77.57±10.51%, P=0.014). In the ETS model, the time required to finish the task was significantly less with telestration than with verbal instructions alone (P=0.002). None of the subjects had errors when telestration was used, while subjects made an average of 0.33±0.59 errors and had to re-listen to the instructions 0.27±0.46 times when only verbal instructions were given.
CONCLUSIONS: The use of the telestration system during ETS facilitated the communication of the mentor\'s intentions to the trainee surgeon and contributed to safer, more accurate surgery. The system was also thought to be useful in reducing operative time.

UNASSIGNED: To identify a screening tool for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and evaluate the effects of endoscopic transsphenoidal surgery on improving OSA in patients with acromegaly.
UNASSIGNED: We prospectively enrolled adults with acromegaly scheduled for endoscopic transsphenoidal surgery. All measurements were conducted when participants were admitted for a baseline work-up for acromegaly before surgery and surveillance approximately 3 to 6 months after surgery. Respiratory event index (REI) was used as a surrogate for apnea-hypopnea index (Trial Registration: NCT03526016).
UNASSIGNED: Of the 35 patients with acromegaly (median age, 47 years; 40% men; median body mass index, 24.4 kg/m2), 24 (68.6%) had OSA (REI ≥5/hour), 15 (42.9%) had moderate-to-severe OSA (REI ≥15/hour). At baseline, serum insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) levels were positively correlated with the REI (ρ=0.53, P=0.001). The sensitivity and negative predictive value of a Snoring, Tiredness, Observed apnea, high blood Pressure-Body mass index, age, Neck circumference, and Gender (STOP-Bang) score ≥ 3 were 93.3% and 87.5%, respectively, detecting moderate-to-severe OSA. Biochemical acromegaly remission was achieved in 32 (91.4%) patients. The median difference in the REI was -9.5/hour (95% confidence interval, -13.3 to -5.3). Half of the 24 patients diagnosed with OSA preoperatively had REI <5/hour postoperatively. In a linear mixed-effects model, changes in the REI across surgery were related to changes in IGF-1 levels.
UNASSIGNED: The STOP-Bang questionnaire is a reliable tool for OSA among patients with acromegaly. Improvement in OSA severity after surgery is related to decreased IGF-1 levels.

Sellar reconstruction is important for preventing cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leakage after transsphenoidal pituitary surgery. This report describes how, despite standard sellar reconstruction, CSF exudation resulted from dural thinning at the anterior skull base, outside the intrasellar area manipulated during pituitary tumor resection. A 76-year-old man underwent endoscopic transsphenoidal surgery for a pituitary tumor extending toward the anterior skull base. After opening the sellar floor, intractable bleeding from the anterior intercavernous sinus occurred during bone removal at the anterior skull base. Pseudocapsule-based extracapsular resection was completed after stopping the bleeding. On the 10th postoperative day, the patient developed CSF rhinorrhea complicated by marked pneumocephalus, and emergency endoscopic repair of the CSF leak was performed. CSF leakage originated from the thinned dura at the anterior skull base located outside the intrasellar area manipulated during tumor resection. The thinned dural area at the anterior skull base coincided with the site of intractable bleeding of the anterior intercavernous sinus during bone removal in tumor resection. The thinned anterior skull base dura was covered with fascia, overlaid with fat, and closed with the nasoseptal flap. Endoscopic CSF leak repair was successful. Severe damage to the anterior intercavernous sinus can cause extensive exposure of the single-layered inner meningeal dura, where thinning might result in CSF exudation. Therefore, use of autologous tissues to cover and reinforce the severely damaged area of the anterior intercavernous sinus might help prevent postoperative CSF exudation.

Visual evoked potential (VEP) is an established modality that allows safe brain tumor resection and preservation of optical function. We herein present a case of a pediatric craniopharyngioma with significant improvement in the VEP amplitude detected during endoscopic transsphenoidal surgery (ETS) and obvious postoperative improvement in visual acuity. A 13-year-old boy presented with visual acuity disturbance in his right eye and was followed up for 5 months by an ophthalmologist. His visual acuity rapidly worsened, and a suprasellar lesion with calcification was found on brain computed tomography. The patient underwent tumor resection during ETS with intraoperative transcranial VEP monitoring. Gross total tumor resection was achieved without injury to the perforators, including the superior hypophyseal arteries. The VEP amplitude was unstable, and significant waves were not detectable before tumor resection; however, a positive wave was detected after removing most of the tumor and exposing the bilateral optic nerves and optic chiasm. Subsequently, negative and positive VEP waves were continuously detected. Visual acuity improved remarkably on postoperative day 10. This case demonstrated both a significant increase in the intraoperative VEP amplitude and rapid postoperative improvement in visual acuity. We surmised that the preoperative rapid worsening of visual dysfunction, intraoperative increase in the VEP amplitude, and significant postoperative improvement in visual acuity were associated with the compression of the optic nerves by the internal carotid artery, anterior cerebral artery, and tumor.

Objectives  Sellar pathologies are frequently found on imaging performed to investigate headache. However, both headache and incidental sellar lesions are common. Hence, this study prospectively examined headache prevalence, phenotype, and severity in patients with sellar pathologies and the impact of transsphenoidal surgery on headache. Methods  Patients undergoing transsphenoidal resection of sellar lesions were consecutively recruited. At baseline, participants were defined as having headache or not and headache phenotype was characterized using validated questionnaires. Headache severity was assessed at baseline and 6 months postoperatively using the Headache Impact Test-6 (HIT-6) and Migraine Disability Assessment Score (MIDAS). Tumor characteristics were defined using radiological, histological, and endocrine factors. Primary outcomes included baseline headache prevalence and severity and headache severity change at 6 months postoperatively. Correlation between headache and radiological, histological, and endocrine characteristics was also of interest. Results  Sixty participants (62% female, 47.1 ± 18.6 years) were recruited. Sixty-three percent possessed baseline headache. HIT-6 scores were higher in patients with primary headache risk factors, including younger age (R 2  = -0.417, p  = 0.010), smoking history (63.31 ± 7.93 vs 54.44 ± 9.21, p  = 0.0060), and family headache history (68.13 ± 7.01 vs 54.94 ± 9.11, p  = 0.0030). Headaches were more common in patients with dural invasion (55.70 ± 12.14 vs 47.18 ± 10.15, p  = 0.027) and sphenoid sinus invasion (58.87 ± 8.97 vs 51.29 ± 10.97, p  = 0.007). Postoperative severity scores improved more with higher baseline headache severity (HIT-6: R 2  = -0.682, p  < 0.001, MIDAS: R 2  = -0.880, p  < 0.0010) and dural invasion (MIDAS: -53.00 ± 18.68 vs 12.00 ± 17.54, p  = 0.0030). Conclusion  Headaches in sellar disease are likely primary disorders triggered or exacerbated by sellar pathology. These may respond to surgery, particularly in patients with severe headache and dural invasion.

BACKGROUND: Headache is a common occurrence after endoscopic endonasal surgery (EES) for pituitary adenomas and significantly impacts the quality of life of patients. This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of nasal irrigation in relieving postoperative headache after EES.
METHODS: A retrospective analysis was conducted on a cohort of 101 patients (Cohort I) who underwent EES for pituitary adenomas to explore the risk factors associated with postoperative headache. Another cohort of 72 patients (Cohort II) who received adjuvant nasal irrigation following surgery was enrolled for further analysis. The Headache Impact Test (HIT-6) was used to score the severity of headache, and patients with a HIT score > 55 were classified as having headache.
RESULTS: In Cohort I, 21.78% of patients experienced headache one month after EES, which decreased to 5.94% at the three-month follow-up. Multivariate analysis revealed that postoperative nasal sinusitis (OR = 3.88, 95%CI 1.16-13.03, p = 0.028) and Hardy\'s grade C-D (OR = 10.53, 95%CI 1.02-109.19, p = 0.049) independently predicted the presence of postoperative headache at one month. At the three-month follow-up, patients with sinusitis had higher HIT-6 scores compared to those without sinusitis (44.43 ± 9.78 vs. 39.72 ± 5.25, p = 0.017). In Cohort II, the incidence of sinusitis at three months was significantly lower than that in Cohort I (p = 0.028). Importantly, both the incidence of headache and HIT-6 scores in Cohort II were significantly lower than those in Cohort I at the one- and three-month follow-ups.
CONCLUSIONS: Postoperative sinusitis is an independent risk factor for the development of headache following EES for pituitary adenomas. Prophylactic nasal irrigation helps relieve postoperative headache, possibly by preventing the occurrence of sinusitis.

BACKGROUND: To identify high-risk patients for delayed postoperative hyponatremia (DPH) early, we constructed a simple and effective scoring system.
METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed 141 consecutive patients who underwent endoscopic transsphenoidal surgery from January 2019 to December 2022. Patients were divided into DPH group and nondelayed postoperative hyponatremia group based on whether hyponatremia occurred after the third postoperative day. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was conducted to determine the predictive factors of DPH, and a simple scoring system was constructed based on these predictors.
RESULTS: Among 141 patients, 36 (25.5%) developed DPH. Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that age ≥48 years (odds ratio [OR], 3.74; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.14-12.21; P = 0.029), Knosp grade ≥3 (OR, 5.17; 95% CI, 1.20-22.27; P = 0.027), postoperative hypokalemia within three days (OR, 3.13; 95% CI, 1.05-9.33; P = 0.040), a difference in blood sodium levels between the first and second day after surgery ≥1 mEq/L (OR, 3.65; 95% CI, 1.05-12.77; P = 0.043), and postoperative diabetes insipidus (OR, 3.57; 95% CI, 1.16-10.96; P = 0.026) were independent predictors of DPH.
CONCLUSIONS: This scoring system for predicting DPH has an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.856 (95% CI, 0.787-0.925), indicating moderate to good predictive value for DPH in our cohort, but further prospective external validation is needed.

UNASSIGNED: Endoscopic surgery has become the mainstay of pituitary surgery, but requires comprehensive surgical training. We evaluate the impact of a surgeon\'s academic leave during endoscopic training on surgical outcomes of patients with pituitary tumors.
UNASSIGNED: This retrospective study reviewed the surgical outcomes of endoscopic transsphenoidal surgery for pituitary tumors performed by a single surgeon. The last 56 surgical cases were performed between July 2010 and August 2014 before academic leave (Phase 1 surgery group), while another 56 consecutive cases were performed between November 2017 and March 2020 immediately after the surgeon\'s academic leave (Phase 2 surgery group). Demographic and clinical characteristics were collected and compared between the two surgery groups.
UNASSIGNED: Overall, most surgical outcomes of endoscopic transsphenoidal surgery were not affected adversely by the period of academic leave. The operative time and length of hospital stay was lower in the Phase 2 surgery group compared to the Phase 1 surgery group (P<0.05). Postoperative tumor residual, intraoperative cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leaks and reoperation also decreased significantly in the Phase 2 group compared to the Phase 1 group (P<0.05). Similar results were observed in patients operated using a one-hand/mono-nostril and two-hand/one-and-half nostril technique.
UNASSIGNED: Academic leave had no negative impact on most surgical outcomes for endoscopic transsphenoidal resection of pituitary tumors. Moreover, a trend toward shorter operative times and length of hospital stays was noted for patients receiving surgery immediately after surgeon\'s return from leave.

As surgical techniques become less invasive, the use of endoscopy in brain surgery supports this trend. Numerous endoscopic surgical approaches have been defined, especially for skull base diseases. The current study summarizes our experience of using the rarely reported endoscopic transnasal transdiaphragmatic approach through the existing hole in the diaphragma sella to access lesions extending into the suprasellar region.
Our surgical team performed 4876 endoscopic endonasal surgeries between August 1997 and December 2022 at the Department of Neurosurgery, Pituitary Research Center, Faculty of Medicine, Kocaeli University. The study retrospectively analyzed data from 11 patients who had undergone endoscopic transnasal transdiaphragmatic surgery since January 2020. Preoperative and postoperative magnetic resonance imaging, pituitary function examination, and clinical observation were carried out.
The mean age of the patients was 31.1 ± 10.7 years and the female/male ratio was 6:5. Pathologic subtypes observed included breast cancer metastasis (n = 1), adrenocorticotropic hormone-secreting adenoma (n = 4), growth hormone-secreting adenoma (n = 3), craniopharyngioma (n = 2), and Rathke cleft cyst (n = 1). The mean postoperative hospital stay was 4.7 ± 1.1 days and none of the patients showed cerebrospinal fluid leakage during this period.
The endoscopic transnasal transdiaphragmatic approach may be considered an alternative to the conventional extended endoscopic transnasal approach in patients with lesions extending into the suprasellar region. The main strength of this method is that it facilitates suprasellar region access through a small dural incision and bone defect in the base of the skull. As a result, it also reduces the risk of postoperative cerebrospinal fluid leakage and associated complications.