[Casuistry review of patients undergoing surgery for pituitary adenomas in Getafe University Hospital (Spain)].

Objective: To perform a casuistry review of patients diagnosed with pituitary adenomas (PA) who underwent surgery performed by the same neurosurgeon after 1995.

Material And Methods: A descriptive and retrospective study was performed in 98 patients with PA undergoing surgery from 1995-2008. Tumor size and data on functionality, pathology and postprocedural complications were analyzed. The study was divided into two periods: 1995-2002 (first period) and 2003-2008 (second period).

Results: A total of 110 surgical interventions (59 in the first period and 51 in the second) were performed for 49 non-hormone-producing PA and 61 hormone-producing PA. There were 85 macroadenomas and 25 microadenomas. Cure was achieved in 31 patients (36%) with macroadenomas and in 21 patients (84%) with microadenomas (P=0.05).The number of complications was significantly higher in the first period [32 patients (54 %)] than in the second period [16 patients (31.3%)] (P<0.05). Cure was achieved in 28 patients (47.4%) in the first period compared with 31 (52.1%) in the second (P=0.1). The mortality rate was 0.9%.

Conclusions: As described in previous studies, the cure rate was significantly higher for microadenomas than for macroadenomas. There was a significant reduction in the incidence of surgical complications and a trend toward an increase in the percentage of overall healing in the second period of the study. These results are probably related to the neurosurgeon's greater experience and surgical skill.