Currently, surgical management provides the definitive treatment of choice for most pituitary adenomas, craniopharyngiomas and meningiomas of the sellar region. The elegant minimally invasive transnasal endoscopic approach to the sella turcica and the anterior skull base has added a new dimension of versatility to pituitary surgery and can be adapted to many lesions in the region. In this multi-author book with numerous color illustrations the main aspects of the endonasal endoscopic approach to the skull base are presented, starting with a clear description of the endoscopic anatomy, the...

It is only recently that the use of the endoscope as the sole visualizing tool has been introduced in transsphenoidal pituitary surgery with its favorable related implications and minimal operative trauma. Of course, microscopic and endoscopic anatomy are basically the same, but the optical distorsion of endoscopic images is quite substantial compared to microscopic depictions. An endoscope lens produces images with maximal magnification at its center and severe contraction at its periphery. Nearer images are disproportionally enlarged and remote images are falsely miniaturized. This optical...