Surgical management of pituitary adenomas.

Surgical management of pituitary adenomas continues to be a safe and effective method, suitable for a large number of patients suffering from the effects of these lesions. Frequently surgery is just part of an overall programme that includes medical management and radiation therapy as well. It is important for the physicians and the patients to understand that surgery alone may not be totally successful, but that with careful follow-up and appropriate adjunctive management, patients with pituitary tumours may live normal lives, and may enjoy reversal of the endocrine and visual problems that had been caused by their tumours. Careful study of surgically managed patients has contributed to some of the advances that have occurred in the overall management of pituitary adenomas and in our understanding of their biology, pathophysiology and pathogenesis.