Abstract
Anterior pituitary neoplasms are the third most common brain tumor in the adult population and account for 10–25% of all intracranial tumors. Signs and symptoms exhibited by individuals with an anterior pituitary neoplasm are variable and dependent upon whether the lesion is a functional or nonfunctional tumor. Surgical resection of these tumors is the mainstay of treatment, along with close management of the various hormonal alterations seen in functional tumor types. The anesthetic management of these patients is largely concerned with alterations in anatomy and physiology that are the result of functional tumors. Of primary concern to the anesthesia provider are those individuals presenting with acromegaly or Cushing’s disease. Acromegaly is particularly concerning given the changes in facial and airway features and often necessitates the use of advanced intubation techniques. Prognosis is related to tumor size with remission rates of 80–90% in patients with microadenomas and 40–70% in patients with macroadenomas.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Melmed S. Pathogenesis of pituitary tumors. Nat Rev Endocrinol. 2011;7:257–66.
Herman V, Fagin J, Gonsky R, Kovacs K, Melmed S. Clonal origin of pituitary adenomas. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1990;71:1427–33.
Melmed S. Acromegaly pathogenesis and treatment. J Clin Invest. 2009;119:3189–202.
Elston MS, McDonald KL, Clifton-Bligh RJ, Robinson BG. Familial pituitary tumor syndromes. Nat Rev Endocrinol. 2009;5:453–61.
Elster AD. Modern imaging of the pituitary. Radiology. 1993;187:1–14.
Hall WA, Luciano MG, Doppman JL, Patronas NJ, Oldfield EH. Pituitary magnetic resonance imaging in normal human volunteers. Ann Intern Med. 1994;120(10):817–20.
McNeil KA. Epidemiology of brain tumors. Neurol Clin. 2016;34(4):981–98.
Gittleman H, Ostrom QT, Farah PD, et al. Descriptive epidemiology of pituitary tumors in the United States, 2004–2009. J Neurosurg. 2014;121(3):527–35.
Heaney AP. Pituitary carcinoma: difficult diagnosis and treatment. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2011;12(1):3649–60.
Ezzat S, Asa SL, Couldwell WT, Barr CE, Dodge WE, Vance ML, McCutcheon IE. The prevalence of pituitary adenomas: a systematic review. Cancer. 2004;101(3):613–9.
Buurman H, Saeger W. Subclinical adenomas in postmortem pituitaries: classification and correlations to clinical data. Eur J Endocrinol. 2006;154:753–8.
Molitch ME. Diagnosis and treatment of pituitary adenomas. JAMA. 2017;317(5):516–24. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2016.19699.
Arafah BM, Nasrallah MP. Pituitary tumors: pathophysiology, clinical manifestations and management. Endocr Relat Cancer. 2001;8:287–305.
Briet C, Salenave S, Bonneville JF, Laws ER, Chanson P. Pituitary apoplexy. Endocr Rev. 2015;36(6):622–45.
Zatelli MC. Pathogenesis of non-functioning pituitary adenomas. Pituitary. 2018;21(2):130–7.
Huang W, Molitch ME. Management of nonfunctioning pituitary adenomas (NFAs): observation. Pituitary. 2017;21(2):162–7.
Molitch ME. Pituitary tumours: pituitary incidentalomas. Best Pract Res Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2009;23:667–75.
Reddy R, Hope S, Wass J. Acromegaly. BMJ. 2010;341:c4189.
Stratakis CA. Cushing syndrome in pediatrics. Endocrinol Metab Clin N Am. 2012;41(4):793–803.
Shimon I, Melmed S. Management of pituitary tumors. Ann Intern Med. 1998;129(6):472–83.
Heaney A. Management of aggressive pituitary adenomas and pituitary carcinomas. J Neuro-Oncol. 2014;117:459–68.
Amlashi FG, Tritos NA. Thyrotropin-secreting pituitary adenomas: epidemiology, diagnosis, and management. Endocrine. 2016;52(3):427–40.
Petrovich Z, Gabor J, Cheng Y, Apuzzo ML. Radiotherapy and stereotactic radiosurgery for pituitary tumors. Neurosurg Clin N Am. 2003;14(1):147–66.
Wilson PJ, De-Ioyde KJ, Williams JR, Smee RI. Acromegaly: a single centre’s experience of stereotactic radiosurgery and radiotherapy for growth hormone secreting pituitary tumors with the linear accelerator. J Clin Neurosci. 2013;20(11):1506–13.
Chon B, Loeffler JS. Efficacy and risk for radiotherapy for pituitary tumors. Endocrinologist. 2002;12(6):525–30.
Dunn LK, Nemergut EC. Anesthesia for transsphenoidal pituitary surgery. Curr Opin Anaesthesiol. 2013;26(5):549–54.
Horvat A, Kolak J, Gopčević A, Ilej M, Gnjidić Ž. Anesthetic management of patients undergoing pituitary surgery. Acta Clin Croat. 2011;50:209–16.
Wang Y, Liu B, Zhao B, Yu D, Jiang X, Ye L, Zhao L, Lv W, Zhang Y, Zheng T, Xue Y, Chen L, Sankey E, Chen L, Wu Y, Li M, Ma L, Li Z, Li R, Li J, Yan J, Wang S, Zhao H, Sun X, Gao G, Qu Y, He S. Safety and efficacy of a novel neurosurgical enhanced recovery after surgery protocol for elective craniotomy: a prospective randomized controlled trial. J Neurosurg. 2018;22:1–12.
Bajwa SS, Bajwa SK. Anesthesia and intensive care implications for pituitary surgery: recent trends and advancements. Indian J Endocrinol Metab. 2011;15(3):224–32. https://doi.org/10.4103/2223-8210.84872.
Lim M, Williams D, Maartens N. Anaesthesia for pituitary surgery. J Clin Neurosci. 2005;13:413–8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jocn.2005.11.028.
Smith M, Hirsch NP. Pituitary disease and anaesthesia. Br J Anaesth. 2000;85(1):3–14.
Aziz M. Airway management in neuroanesthesiology. Anesthesiol Clin. 2012;30(2):229–40.
Southwick JP, Katz J. Unusual airway difficulty in the acromegalic patient: indications for tracheostomy. Anesthesiology. 1979;51:72–3.
Flynn BC, Nemergut EC. Postoperative nausea and vomiting and pain after transsphenoidal surgery. Anes Analg. 2006;56:584–9.
Winn HR. Youmans and Winn neurological surgery. 7th ed. New York: Elsevier; 2017.
Buchfelder M, Schlaffer S. Imaging of pituitary pathology. Handb Clin Neurol. 2014;124:151–66.
Mccracken DJ, Chu J, Oyesiku NM. Pituitary Tumors: Diagnosis and Management. The Principles of Neurological Surgery, 4th edition. Editors RG Ellenbogen, S Laligam, ND Kitchen 2018;632–57. Elsevier.
Dunn LK, Nemergut EC. Anesthesia for transsphenoidal pituitary surgery. Current Opinion Anesthesiology. 2013;26(5):549–54. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.aco.0000432521.01339.ab.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Luongo, N., Slivinski, P., Smith, A.M., Lovinaria, D. (2020). Neurosurgery and Pituitary Resection in Cancer Patients. In: Nates, J., Price, K. (eds) Oncologic Critical Care. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74588-6_155
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74588-6_155
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-74587-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-74588-6
eBook Packages: MedicineReference Module Medicine