Expanded endoscopic endonasal approach for resection of residual parasellar growth hormone-secreting pituitary adenoma in a patient with kissing internal carotid arteries: Technical nuances

Growth hormone (GH)--secreting pituitary adenomas can be aggressive and difficult to manage. Surgical resection for GH-secreting tumors remains the gold standard with increasing use of expanded endoscopic endonasal (EEA) techniques. Certain anatomical considerations make postsurgical biochemical remission challenging. We describe the case of a 43-year-old male presenting with acromegaly after a lack of biochemical remission from a previous surgery. Resection of the residual tumor invading the retrogenu compartment of the cavernous sinus was challenging for several reasons: (a) its location adjacent to the right parasellar horizontal internal carotid artery (ICA) with involvement of the medial wall, (b) the large kissing bilateral ICAs reducing the intercarotid distance, and (c) potential scar tissue. EEA was undertaken with key surgical steps, including wide bilateral sphenoidotomies, right middle clinoidectomy to access the clinoidal ICA and the retrogenu compartment, identification of the top of the paraclival ICA by drilling across the sella floor, division of the sellar floor dura to increase the intercarotid distance and transcavernous mobilization of medial wall, and the tumor capsule away from the horizontal parasellar ICA and across to the diaphragm and pituitary gland. Postoperatively, biochemical remission was achieved with no new endocrine deficits. These surgical nuances permit biochemical remission in complex revisional cases with acromegaly.