OBJECTIVETo assess the clinical curative effect of the endonasal transsphenoidal approach for removing pituitary adenoma (PA) under neuroendoscope-assisted.

METHODSThere were 215 patients who had undergone neuroendoscopic transsphenoidal surgery. Each patient received CT or MRI examination which showed the size and surrounding structural of tumor.

RESULTSAmong the 215 patients, 190 cases (88.4%) had total removal, 17 cases (7.9%) achieved subtotal removal and the remaining 8 cases (3.7%) with fibrous tumor was carried out partial removal. Two patients (0.9%) died after operation. Postoperative follow-up period was 1 to 10 months (the average was 3.5 months). In 182 patients, 150 cases (90.9%) got vision recovered rapidly compared with their preoperative symptoms, such as diminished acuities and visual field defects, and 15 cases (9.1%) had gotten improvements to some extend among 165 who diagnosed as pituitary macroadenoma (PMaA); There were 17 patients who diagnosed as microadenoma (PMiA) showed that the pituitary dyshormonism recovered gradually.

CONCLUSIONSThe endonasal transsphenoidal surgery under the neuroendoscope-assisted appears to be a safe, effective and micro-invasive method for PA.