Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comparative Study
. 2003 Oct;53(4):880-5; discussion 885-6.
doi: 10.1227/01.neu.0000083604.09901.f6.

The regional oxygen saturation of pituitary adenomas is lower than that of the pituitary gland: microspectrophotometric study with potential clinical implications

Rudolf A Kristof  1 , Ales F Aliashkevich, Volkmar Hans, Dorothee Haun, Bernhard Meyer, Christoph Thees, Johannes Schramm
Affiliations
Comparative Study

The regional oxygen saturation of pituitary adenomas is lower than that of the pituitary gland: microspectrophotometric study with potential clinical implications

Rudolf A Kristof et al. Neurosurgery. 2003 Oct.

Abstract

Objective: To study the regional oxygen saturation (rSO(2)) of pituitary adenomas, in comparison with that of the pituitary gland.

Methods: Microspectrophotometric (MSP) measurements of rSO(2) in adenomas and pituitary tissue were performed for a series of patients undergoing first-time transsphenoidal pituitary adenoma surgery, in a standardized anesthesia setting. The areas of measured tissue were sampled for histopathological and immunohistochemical (CD34 and CD45) assessments. The results of MSP measurements were compared with the results of the histopathological and immunohistochemical assessments.

Results: Thirty-six MSP measurements and tissue samples were obtained among 22 patients with pituitary macroadenomas, including 14 from adenoma tissue, 17 from the anterior pituitary lobe, and 5 from the posterior pituitary lobe. The rSO(2) of adenoma tissue (mean +/- standard deviation, 43.3 +/- 23.2%) was statistically significantly (P = 0.001) lower than the values for the anterior pituitary lobe (mean +/- standard deviation, 71.8 +/- 18.3%) and posterior pituitary lobe (mean +/- standard deviation, 74.9 +/- 4.8%). The difference between the rSO(2) values for the anterior pituitary lobe and posterior pituitary lobe was not significant. There were no statistically significant differences in microvessel density (as assessed with CD34 staining) or lymphocyte density (as assessed with CD45 staining) among the three tissue types.

Conclusion: As assessed with MSP measurements, the rSO(2) of adenoma tissue was significantly lower than that of the pituitary gland, indicating differences in their blood supply and/or metabolism in pituitary macroadenomas. Further studies are needed to determine whether MSP measurements can reliably facilitate intraoperative delineation of adenoma and pituitary tissue, in the effort to achieve complete tumor removal with minimal injury to pituitary tissue.

PubMed Disclaimer

Publication types