Abstract

SPALLONE, A.; GONZALEZ-GONZALEZ, J.L.; MOSTES DE OCA, F.  and  VERDIAL-VIDAL, R.. Pituitary adenomas invading the cavernous sinus: Transcranial transcavernous approach. Neurocirugía [online]. 2007, vol.18, n.4, pp.294-300. ISSN 1130-1473.

Pituitary adenomas represent a significant proportion (+o-13%) of all intracranial tumors. Surgical treatment is as rule performed by transsphenoidal approach. However, a small but not insignificant subgroup of pituitary adenomas (5 to 7%) invade the lateral parasellar structures and the cavernous sinus in particular, and poses obvious problems to the therapeutic strategy, since transsphenoidal removal of these adenomas is usually incomplete. Objective. To evaluate the results of transcranial removal of a consecutive series of pituitary adenomas invading the cavernous sinus. Material and method. A retrospective study of 9 patients harbouring pituitary adenomas invading the cavernous sinus who had been submitted to transcranial surgery was conducted. These patients were operated on in the time span June 1999 - December 2003, in the Nuova Clinica Latina (now NCL- Neurological Centere of Latium), Rome Italy, and the Hospital "Hermanos Ameijeiras", La Habana, Cuba, using a fronto-orbitozigomatic (FOZ) craniotomy, anterior clinoidectomy and a limited dissection of the cavernous sinus through the antero-medial triangle. Results. Total macroscopical removal was achieved in 8 cases, partial in 1, who showed improvement or normalization of the hormonal levels and of the preoperative symptoms. Transitory complications occurred in 6 patients, one of them showed a permanet neurological deficit (paresis of the III cranail nerve). Conclusions. Transcranial transcavernous approach is an effective technique for attempting total removal of intracavernous pituitary adenomas. It allows to achieve remission of symptoms and hormonal control in the medium-long term. However complications are relatively frequent, and permanent sequelae are not negligible.

Keywords : Invasive adenomas; Cavernous sinus; Transcranial approach; FOZ craniotomy; Antero-medial triangle.

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