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