title: The current status of endoscopy in transsphenoidal surgery: an international survey.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  A survey-based study was designed to assess opinions related to transsphenoidal endoscopy, to evaluate the current global attitudes of neurosurgeons regarding the use of this procedure, and to solicit basic data from key institutions worldwide, with the advantage that large series of cases become available for analysis.
  
  
  METHODS
  A web-based multi-item questionnaire was distributed to the surgical departments of 393 neurosurgical centers by means of an invitation e-mail. The questionnaire was composed of 2 sections: section 1 focused on the surgical technique for pituitary adenomas (standard technique), and section 2 concentrated on surgery for skull base tumors (extended technique). Each section was composed of 2 parts: multiple choice questions and free textual responses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  From a total of 393 neurosurgical centers, from 23 countries, that received the questionnaire, 87 of them (22%) submitted complete or incomplete responses. The surgical procedure, in 60 cases had been performed by a neurosurgeon, in 53 cases by a neurosurgeon and an otolaryngologist, and in 4 cases by an otolaryngologist only. The endoscope (2- and 3-dimensional) was used in 85.2% of transsphenoidal procedures versus the microscope in 14.8% of cases. The endonasal route was used for approach in 93.2% versus the sublabial route in 6.8% of cases. Computer-guided navigation was used by survey population in 71 cases, micro-Doppler in 51 cases, and Cavitron Ultrasonic Surgical Aspirator in 43 cases. Several hundreds of extrasellar tumors were operated using the extended technique.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Transsphenoidal endoscopy for pituitary and anterior skull base tumors has become established as a routine method of dealing with a variety of lesions. The level of interest in the neurosurgical surgery community is reflected by the geometric expansion of contributions to the literature on endoscopic surgery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosciences, Odontostomatological & Reproductive Sciences, Division of Neurosurgery, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Naples, Italy. Electronic address: dediviti@unina.it.
authors.forename: Enrico
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: de Divitiis
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Brigham & Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Edward R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Laws
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Umberto
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Giani
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Brigham & Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Sherry L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Iuliano
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosciences, Odontostomatological & Reproductive Sciences, Division of Neurosurgery, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Oreste
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: de Divitiis
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurological Surgery, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA.
authors.forename: Michael L J
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Apuzzo
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D004724:Endoscopy / Q000379:methods*; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D009296:Nasal Cavity / Q000601:surgery; D019635:Neurosurgical Procedures / Q000379:methods*; D010911:Pituitary Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery; D013100:Sphenoid Bone / Q000601:surgery*; D066231:Surgeons; D025321:Surgery, Computer-Assisted; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Endoscopy; Microscopy; Pituitary; Pituitary adenomas; Skull base tumors; Survey