Endoscopic Endonasal Surgery to Remove Tumors

A study has demonstrated the advantage of minimally invasive surgery through a patient's nostril to remove certain tumors, usually requiring extensive open surgery. Conducted by Hae-Dong Jho, M.D., department of neurologic surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine (PA, USA), the study was presented at the annual meeting of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons in San Diego (CA, USA).

The study involved 200 patients who had undergone endoscopic endonasal cranial base surgery for pituitary adenomas, cranial base meningiomas, clival chordomas, and other cranial base pathologies. Endoscopic endonasal surgery is minimally invasive surgery in which surgical instruments are inserted through the patient's nostrils to access the tumor, while the surgeon watches the surgery on a monitor.

The advantages of minimally invasive surgery were evidenced by the rate of tumor removal. Of all adenoma patients, 70% had gross total removal. Among the 10 patients with cranial base meningiomas, eight had gross total removal and two had subtotal removal. Of patients with Cushing's disease, 72% had normal postoperative cortisol levels, which were elevated before surgery due to the pituitary adenomas. The length of hospital stay, another indicator of surgical success, was less than one day in 75% of the patients.




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