Endoscopy and transsphenoidal surgery.

ENDOSCOPY OFFERS INTERNAL visualization of many different cavities of the human body, with its specific vision inside the anatomy, close to the target area. The view of the surgical field in transsphenoidal surgery had been obtained with the naked eye from its beginning in 1907 up to the introduction of the operating microscope by Jules Hardy in the 1960s, which represented a great advance in terms of magnification and illumination. In the past decade, modern rigid endoscopes, with their wider view near the relevant anatomy, have permitted minimally traumatic transsphenoidal procedures in and around the sellar area, thus representing a "new wave" in transsphenoidal history. An overview of the evolution of the endoscope as a visualizing and operating instrument particularly related to the transsphenoidal approach is presented here. The current possibilities of transsphenoidal endoscopy, with its related advantages and limitations, are presented.