. 2025 Jul 23;28(4):88.

doi: 10.1007/s11102-025-01553-w.

A core outcome set for pituitary surgery research: an international delphi consensus study

Alexandra Valetopoulou^{1

2}, Nicola Newall^{1

2}, Danyal Z Khan^{1

2}, Anouk Borg¹, Pierre M G Bouloux³, Fion Bremner¹, Michael Buchfelder⁴, Simon Cudlip⁵, Neil Dorward¹, William M Drake⁶, Juan C Fernandez-Miranda⁷, Maria Fleseriu⁸, Mathew Geltzeiler⁸, Joy Ginn⁹, Mark Gurnell¹⁰, Steve Harris⁹, Zane Jaunmuktane¹, Márta Korbonits⁶, Michael Kosmin³, Olympia Koulouri¹⁰, Hugo Layard Horsfall^{1

2}, Adam N Mamelak¹¹, Richard Mannion¹⁰, Pat McBride⁹, Ann I McCormack¹², Shlomo Melmed¹¹, Katherine A Miszkiel¹, Gerald Raverot¹³, Thomas Santarius¹⁰, Theodore H Schwartz¹⁴, Inma Serrano¹, Gabriel Zada¹⁵, Stephanie E Baldeweg³, Hani J Marcus^{16

17}, Angelos G Kolias¹⁰; PitCOP Collaborators

Collaborators, Affiliations

Collaborators

PitCOP Collaborators:
Aaron Lawson McLean, Alasdair Mackintosh, Alexandros Boukas, Alison Julia Bryant, Andrew John Blamey, Anita J Evans, Axel Petzold, Barry Culpin, Benedicte Decoudier, Catherine Bray, Chloe Camoccio, Christopher Allen Lindsay, Claire Briet, Claude Fabien Litre, Colin Victor Betteley, David Edward Perry, David Jonathan Collins, Deborah Hepburn, Deborah Samantha, Eimear Carolan, Dhaval Shukla, Dhruv Parikh, Eduarda Sá-Marta, Francesca Swords, Gemma Leanne Jones, Georgina Wordsworth, Ian Nigel Dibb, Jacek Kunicki, James Alexander, Jamie Lee Prochaska, Jeanette Curran, Jemma Farrell, Jenny Lindsay, Joao Paulo Almeida, John King, Jonathan Chainey, Kanna Gnanalingham, Katy Miller, Laura-Jane Evans, Maddison Broadbent, Mark Gruppetta, Martin Doughty, Martin D Silveston, McKay Hewison, Mia Littrell, Michelle Fattorini, Mollie Pullin, Pauline Swindells, Peter Johnson Fenwick, Rachael Burnham, Ramez Wadie Kirollos, Rob Laidler, Robert Bryant, Sally-Ann Price, Shelley Jean Pomeroy, Sian Sheppard, Soham Bandyopadhyay, Sophie A Clarke, Sunita M C De Sousa, Thierry Brue, Tsegazeab Laeke, Vanessa Ariza, Varun R Kshettry

Affiliations

¹ National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London, UK.
² Hawkes Institute, Department of Computer Science, University College London, London, UK.
³ University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
⁴ University Hospital Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany.
⁵ Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Oxford, UK.
⁶ Barts and The London School of Medicine, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK.
⁷ Stanford University School of Medicine, 213 Quarry Road, Palo Alto, USA.
⁸ Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, USA.
⁹ The Pituitary Foundation, London, UK.
¹⁰ Addenbrooke's Hospital and University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
¹¹ Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
¹² Vincent's Hospital Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
¹³ Department of Endocrinology, French Reference Center for Rare Pituitary Diseases HYPO, Hospices Civils de Lyon, France.
¹⁴ , New York, NY, USA.
¹⁵ Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
¹⁶ National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London, UK. h.marcus@ucl.ac.uk.
¹⁷ Hawkes Institute, Department of Computer Science, University College London, London, UK. h.marcus@ucl.ac.uk.

PMID: 40702372
PMCID: PMC12287136
DOI: 10.1007/s11102-025-01553-w

A core outcome set for pituitary surgery research: an international delphi consensus study

Alexandra Valetopoulou et al. Pituitary. 2025.

. 2025 Jul 23;28(4):88.

doi: 10.1007/s11102-025-01553-w.

Authors

Collaborators

PitCOP Collaborators:
Aaron Lawson McLean, Alasdair Mackintosh, Alexandros Boukas, Alison Julia Bryant, Andrew John Blamey, Anita J Evans, Axel Petzold, Barry Culpin, Benedicte Decoudier, Catherine Bray, Chloe Camoccio, Christopher Allen Lindsay, Claire Briet, Claude Fabien Litre, Colin Victor Betteley, David Edward Perry, David Jonathan Collins, Deborah Hepburn, Deborah Samantha, Eimear Carolan, Dhaval Shukla, Dhruv Parikh, Eduarda Sá-Marta, Francesca Swords, Gemma Leanne Jones, Georgina Wordsworth, Ian Nigel Dibb, Jacek Kunicki, James Alexander, Jamie Lee Prochaska, Jeanette Curran, Jemma Farrell, Jenny Lindsay, Joao Paulo Almeida, John King, Jonathan Chainey, Kanna Gnanalingham, Katy Miller, Laura-Jane Evans, Maddison Broadbent, Mark Gruppetta, Martin Doughty, Martin D Silveston, McKay Hewison, Mia Littrell, Michelle Fattorini, Mollie Pullin, Pauline Swindells, Peter Johnson Fenwick, Rachael Burnham, Ramez Wadie Kirollos, Rob Laidler, Robert Bryant, Sally-Ann Price, Shelley Jean Pomeroy, Sian Sheppard, Soham Bandyopadhyay, Sophie A Clarke, Sunita M C De Sousa, Thierry Brue, Tsegazeab Laeke, Vanessa Ariza, Varun R Kshettry

Affiliations

¹ National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London, UK.
² Hawkes Institute, Department of Computer Science, University College London, London, UK.
³ University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
⁴ University Hospital Erlangen, Erlangen, Germany.
⁵ Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Oxford, UK.
⁶ Barts and The London School of Medicine, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK.
⁷ Stanford University School of Medicine, 213 Quarry Road, Palo Alto, USA.
⁸ Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, USA.
⁹ The Pituitary Foundation, London, UK.
¹⁰ Addenbrooke's Hospital and University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
¹¹ Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
¹² Vincent's Hospital Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
¹³ Department of Endocrinology, French Reference Center for Rare Pituitary Diseases HYPO, Hospices Civils de Lyon, France.
¹⁴ , New York, NY, USA.
¹⁵ Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
¹⁶ National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, London, UK. h.marcus@ucl.ac.uk.
¹⁷ Hawkes Institute, Department of Computer Science, University College London, London, UK. h.marcus@ucl.ac.uk.

PMID: 40702372
PMCID: PMC12287136
DOI: 10.1007/s11102-025-01553-w

Abstract

Purpose: This study aimed to develop a core outcome set (COS) for pituitary surgery to enhance the quality, efficiency and effectiveness of future pituitary adenoma surgery research.

Methods: Thirty-three outcomes were identified through a systematic review of pituitary adenoma surgery outcomes and a study on patient-reported measures. These were presented in an online survey to healthcare professionals (HCPs), patients and caregivers. In the first round, participants scored each outcome's importance on a 5-point scale (1-strongly disagree; 5-strongly agree) and could also suggest additional outcomes, which were reviewed and, if appropriate, added to existing domains. In the second round, participants re-scored the updated the list, considering group median and interquartile range scores from the previous round. Outcomes with a median score of 5 were included in the COS. A final live online consensus meeting discussed and voted on borderline outcomes (median scores 3-4).

Results: The first round received 95 responses (52% HCPs, 48% patients/caregivers). Of the 33 outcomes, 16 received a median score of 5 (strongly agree), three received 4.5 and 14 received 4 (agree). Round two received 87 responses (52% HCPs, 48% patients and caregivers). Of the 33 outcomes, 14 received a median ranking of 5, two received 4.5, 15 received 4 and two received 3 (neutral). The live meeting (attended by 12 participants: 5 HCPs, 6 patients, 1 caregiver), reached consensus on the final COS, which includes 7 domains: short-term surgical outcomes; nasal outcomes; ophthalmic outcomes; endocrine outcomes; quality of life and psychological outcomes; other short-term outcomes; and disease control outcomes.

Conclusion: We advocate for use of the COS in future pituitary surgery research.

Keywords: Core outcome set; Delphi consensus study; Pituitary surgery.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: HJM is employed by Panda Surgical and holds shares in the company.

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References

1. Melmed S, Kaiser UB, Lopes MB et al (2022) Clinical biology of the pituitary adenoma. Endocr Rev 43(6):1003–1037. 10.1210/endrev/bnac010 - PMC - PubMed
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1. Fleseriu M, Auchus R, Bancos I et al (2021) Consensus on diagnosis and management of Cushing’s disease: a guideline update. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol 9(12):847–875. 10.1016/S2213-8587(21)00235-7 - PMC - PubMed
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A core outcome set for pituitary surgery research: an international delphi consensus study

Collaborators

Affiliations

A core outcome set for pituitary surgery research: an international delphi consensus study

Authors

Collaborators

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

Figures

References

MeSH terms

Grants and funding

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources