Visual disturbances in patients with pituitary tumors and early improvement of visual acuity and visual field defects after resection of pituitary tumors.

Abstract

Objective: The aim behind this study was to determine the frequency of visual field and visual acuity disturbances before resection and improvement after resection of pituitary tumors in patients. Study Design: Observational study. Setting: Neurosurgery Department of Jinnah Post Graduate Medical Center, Karachi. Period: August 2015 to August 2016. Material & Methods: A total of 30 patients presented with headache and visual deterioration and diagnosed as pituitary adenoma at neurosurgery OPD, ward and ER were included through a consecutive purposive sampling technique. The detailed visual and ocular analysis (visual acuity, visual field, and extra ocular movements) carried out at time of admission and postoperatively. Tumor was removed by consultant neurosurgeon through trans-sphenoidal approach. SPSS version 17.0 was used to analyze the collected data. Results: A total of 30 cases of pituitary adenoma were included. The average age of the patients was 34.5 ± 10.8 years and among them 17 (56.7%) were males and 13 (43.3%) were females. Pre-operative assessment of the mean deviation of visual function was -8.21 ± 6.10 dB which is significantly improved to -4.6 ± 3.9 dB post-operatively (P < 0.0001). While pre-operative Visual Acuity (logMAR) was 0.3 ± 0.26 and post-operative 0.21 ± 0.2 (P <0.0001). Conclusion: Scientific observation from our study has shown that more than 90% of the patients suffering from pituitary adenomas experience visual impairment which can be improved to significant extent if treated with trans-sphenoidal surgical resection of the tumor.