Preoperative assessment
Before surgery, all patients underwent detailed history taking, radiological studies, endocrinological function tests. Radiological studies encompassed magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with a pituitary protocol and fine-cut computerised tomography. The size of the tumor was defined as the maximal diameter measured on coronal view and regional invasion of the tumor was also recorded. We evaluated the endocrinological function with a complete hormone battery of the anterior pituitary lobe and the functional status could thus be classified as normal, hypersecreting and hypopituitarism.
In addition, we performed endoscopic examination preoperatively to rule out sinonasal disease. To evaluate baseline olfactory function, we used the Top International Biotech Smell Identification Test (TIBSITĀ®, Top International Biotech, Neihu, Taipei, Taiwan), which substitutes odors more familiar to the Taiwanese population for certain odors in the traditional Chinese version of the University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test.12