When age is not an obstacle: A case series of endoscopic transsphenoidal resection of pituitary macroadenomas in older patients

Faropoulos,Konstantinos; Gioti,Ifigeneia; Georgakopoulou,Vasiliki Epameinondas; Spandidos,Demetrios A.; Papalexis,Petros; Lempesis,Ioannis G.; Trakas,Nikolaos; Trakas,Ilias; Anagiotos,Andreas; Fotakopoulos,George

doi:10.3892/br.2023.1668

When age is not an obstacle: A case series of endoscopic transsphenoidal resection of pituitary macroadenomas in older patients

Authors:
- Konstantinos Faropoulos
- Ifigeneia Gioti
- Vasiliki Epameinondas Georgakopoulou
- Demetrios A. Spandidos
- Petros Papalexis
- Ioannis G. Lempesis
- Nikolaos Trakas
- Ilias Trakas
- Andreas Anagiotos
- George Fotakopoulos
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Affiliations: Department of Neurosurgery, Nicosia General Hospital, 2029 Nicosia, Cyprus, Department of Radiotherapy, University Hospital of Patras, 26504 Patras, Greece, Department of Pathophysiology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 11527 Athens, Greece, Laboratory of Clinical Virology, School of Medicine, University of Crete, 71003 Heraklion, Greece, Unit of Endocrinology, First Department of Internal Medicine, Laiko General Hospital, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 11527 Athens, Greece, Department of Biochemistry, Sismanogleio Hospital, 15126 Athens, Greece, Department of Otolaryngology, Nicosia General Hospital, 2029 Nicosia, Cyprus, Department of Neurosurgery, General University Hospital of Larissa, 41221 Larissa, Greece
Published online on: October 3, 2023 https://doi.org/10.3892/br.2023.1668
Article Number: 86
Copyright: © Faropoulos et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License.

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Abstract

Due to the increase in life expectancy, the number of elderly patients suffering from a pituitary macroadenoma is expected to increase in the future. The endoscopic endonasal transsphenoidal (EET) approach tends to be the first choice for the treatment of pituitary macroadenomas in the general population. Notwithstanding, in the geriatric population, the goals of management for this condition remain unclear. The present study retrospectively evaluated and describes the cases of 6 patients >70 years of age with a pituitary macroadenoma who were treated by a skull base team, composed of one ENT surgeon and one neurosurgeon. All the patients experienced a notable improvement in their neurological deficit, while their hormonal status also improved or at least did not deteriorate after the surgery. The EET approach appears to be a safe and effective approach for the treatment of pituitary macroadenomas in the geriatric population.

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