title: Surgical versus non-surgical treatment for pituitary apoplexy: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Pituitary apoplexy is a rare disease caused by a sudden hemorrhage into or infarction of the pituitary gland. Its optimal management remains controversial. The aim of this study was to compare the outcomes of surgical and non-surgical treatments for pituitary apoplexy.
  
  
  METHODS
  A systematic literature search was performed of MedLine, EmBase, the Cochrane Library, and the Web of Science for articles published between January 1992 and September 2014. Studies of the outcomes in consecutive patients that compared surgical intervention with non-surgical treatment for pituitary apoplexy were included.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Six studies met the inclusion criteria. As compared to the non-surgically treated patients, surgically treated patients had a significantly higher rate of recovery of ocular palsy and visual field (both P<0.05). However, there was no significant difference in the recovery of visual acuity and pituitary function (P>0.05) between the two groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings of our study suggest that surgical intervention should be advocated for pituitary apoplexy patients with visual field defects and ocular palsy.
authors: Department of Neurosurgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325000, Zhejiang Province, China.
authors: Ming
authors: M
authors: Tu
authors: Department of Neurosurgery, Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310016, Zhejiang Province, China.
authors: Qin
authors: Q
authors: Lu
authors: Department of Neurosurgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325000, Zhejiang Province, China.
authors: Penglei
authors: P
authors: Zhu
authors: Department of Neurosurgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou 325000, Zhejiang Province, China. Electronic address: songtao930@sina.com.
authors: Weiming
authors: W
authors: Zheng
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D010899:Pituitary Apoplexy / Q000628:therapy*
keywords: Conservative; Meta-analysis; Pituitary apoplexy; Surgical; Treatment