Endoscopic transnasal approach for removing pituitary tumors.

UNLABELLED To describe a series of 129 consecutive patients submitted to the resection of pituitary tumors using the endoscopic transsphenoidal approach in a public medical center. METHOD Retrospective analysis based on the records of patients submitted to the resection of a pituitary tumor through the endoscopic transsphenoidal approach between 2004 and 2009. RESULTS One hundred and twenty-nine records were analyzed. The tumor was non-secreting in 96 (74.42%) and secreting in 33 patients (22.58%). Out of the secretory tumors, the most prevalent was the growth hormone producer (7.65%), followed by the prolactinoma, (6.98%). Eleven patients developed cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) fistulas, and four of them developed meningitis. One patient died due to intracerebral hemorrhage in the postoperative period. CONCLUSION The endoscopic transsphenoidal approach to sellar tumors proved to be safe when the majority of the tumors were non-secreting. The most frequent complication was CSF. This technique can be done even in a public hospital with financial limits, since the health professionals are integrated.