Transsphenoidal pituitary surgery in Cushing's disease: can we predict outcome?

OBJECTIVE To assess the results of transsphenoidal pituitary surgery in pat ients with Cushing's disease over a period of 18 years, and to determine if there are factors which will predict the outcome. PATIENTS Sixty-nine sequential patients treated surgically by a single surg eon in Newcastle upon Tyne between 1980 and 1997 were identified and data f rom 61 of these have been analysed. DESIGN Retrospective analysis of outcome measures. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Patients were divided into three groups (remission, f ailure and relapse) depending on the late outcome of their treatment as det ermined at the time of analysis, i.e. 88 months (median) years after surger y. Remission is defined as biochemical reversal of hypercortisolism with re -emergence of diurnal circadian rhythm, resolution of clinical features and adequate suppression on low-dose dexamethasone testing. Failure is defined as the absence of any of these features. Relapse is defined as the re-emer gence of Cushing's disease more than one year after operation. Clinical fea tures such as weight, sex, hypertension, associated endocrine disorders and smoking, biochemical studies including preoperative and postoperative seru m cortisol, urine free cortisol, serum ACTH, radiological, histological and surgical findings were assessed in relation to these three groups to deter mine whether any factors could reliably predict failure or relapse after tr eatment. RESULTS Of the 61 patients included in this study, 48 (78.7%) achieved init ial remission and 13 (21.3%) failed treatment. Seven patients suffered subs equent relapse (range 22-158 months) in their condition after apparent remi ssion, leaving a final group of 41 patients (67.2%) in the remission group. Tumour was identified at surgery in 52 patients, of whom 38 achieved remis sion. In comparison, only 3 of 9 patients in whom no tumour was identified achieved remission. This difference was significant (P = 0.048). When both radiological and histological findings were positive, the likelihood of ach ieving remission was significantly higher than if both modalities were nega tive (P = 0.038). There were significant differences between remission and failure groups when 2- and 6-week postoperative serum cortisol levels (P = 0.002 and 0.001, respectively) and 6-week postoperative urine free cortisol levels (P = 0.026) were compared. This allowed identification of patients who failed surgical treatment in the early postoperative period. Complicati ons of surgery included transitory DI in 13, transitory CSF leak in 8 and t ransitory nasal discharge and cacosmia in 3. Twelve of 41 patients required some form of hormonal replacement therapy despite achieving long-term remi ssion. Thirteen patients underwent a second operation, of whom 5 achieved r emission. CONCLUSIONS Transsphenoidal pituitary surgery is a safe method of treatment in patients with Cushing's disease. Operative findings, radiological and h istological findings, together with early postoperative serum cortisol and urine free cortisol estimates may identify failures in treatment. Alternati ve treatment might then be required for these patients. Because of the risk of late relapse, patients require life-long follow-up.