The pituitary gland is a very important organ of the central nervous system, which is at the very core of the cranial brain. The pituitary gland is composed of two main parts, with the pituitary gland and the adenohypophysis. Its function is mainly endocrine and it can secrete growth hormone, thyroid stimulating hormone, adrenocorticotropic hormone, gonadotropin, oxytocin, prolactin and melanocyte stimulating hormone, etc. It is also able to store and release antidiuretic hormone secreted by hypothalamus. These hormones have important roles in metabolism, growth, development and reproduction.
Pituitary tumors are generally abnormal growths of adenoidal cells, also called pituitary adenomas. Depending on the type of growth cells, they are classified as prolactin-type pituitary adenoma, growth hormone-type pituitary adenoma, thyrotropin-type pituitary adenoma, adrenocorticotropic hormone-type pituitary adenoma, and of course, non-functional pituitary adenoma. Symptoms of pituitary tumors include abnormal secretion of various hormones, tumor compression of peripituitary tissues, pituitary stroke and other manifestations of anterior hypopituitary gland function.
For the treatment of pituitary tumors, except for the purely prolactinomatous pituitary tumors, which are treated conservatively with drugs, other types of pituitary tumors are mainly treated with surgical procedures. Some patients ask whether minimally invasive surgery or open surgery is better for pituitary tumors. By open surgery, he should refer to craniotomy. Transcranial pituitary tumor surgery is less commonly used in clinical practice because it is more invasive, has more complications, and has a higher risk.
There is currently a minimally invasive procedure for the treatment of pituitary tumors that is less invasive and has good results. We widely carry out neuroendoscopic transsphenoidal pituitary tumor resection clinically because it enters the operation area through the natural channel of the nasal cavity, which is very small trauma, no external incision, no scar, and very safe; moreover, the neuroendoscopic light source and image acquisition can reach the lesion directly, and the tumor is removed completely under the direct view of 360-degree open field of vision without dead angle, with good treatment effect. Moreover, we have personalized 3D printed cranial models, which can be used to make precise surgical plans before surgery and even perform surgical rehearsal simulations on the 3D models, greatly improving surgical precision and surgical efficacy.