Skip to main content

Surgery Does Not Result in Better Outcomes for Pituitary Apoplexy

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on Dec 12, 2023.

By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, Dec. 12, 2023 -- Three-month outcomes are similar with medical and surgical management of pituitary apoplexy (PA), according to a study recently published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

Adam N. Mamelak, M.D., from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, and colleagues established a multicenter, international prospective registry to compare presentation and outcomes in PA patients treated with surgery or medical management alone. A total of 100 PA patients were enrolled from 12 hospitals; the evaluation included 97 patients (67 surgical and 30 medical).

The researchers found that the groups had similar demographics, clinical features, presenting features, hormonal deficits, and imaging findings. In surgical patients, severe temporal visual field deficit was more common. Hormonal, visual, and oculomotor outcomes were similar at three and six months. No difference was seen in any outcome at three months on stratifying based on severity of visual fields. Outcomes were not affected by timing of surgery.

"These findings take some of the urgency out of managing these cases," Mamelak said in a statement. "Clinicians at these centers now know that they can safely manage these patients medically and transfer them when it's reasonable and available, or allow patients to forgo surgery entirely if they are comfortable with that."

Several authors disclosed ties to the medical device industry.

Abstract/Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)

Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2024 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Posted December 2023

Read this next

Robotic-Assisted Total Knee Arthroplasty Has Fewer Complications

WEDNESDAY, May 15, 2024 -- Robotic-assisted total knee arthroplasty (rTKA) is associated with fewer complications but higher average total cost than conventional TKA (cTKA)...

Anesthesia-Surgery Team Sex Diversity Linked to Improved Postop Outcomes

WEDNESDAY, May 15, 2024 -- Anesthesia-surgery team sex diversity is associated with improved postoperative outcomes, according to a study published online May 15 in the British...

Procedure Risk Tied to Outcomes in Older Emergency General Surgery Patients

WEDNESDAY, May 8, 2024 -- Procedure risk is more strongly associated with outcomes in older patients undergoing emergency general surgery than assessing frailty, according to a...

More news resources

Subscribe to our newsletter

Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.