Abstract
Ongoing developments in endoscopic surgery continue to provide further indications for treating various skull base lesions. Recently, the usefulness of photodynamic diagnosis has been recognized in brain tumor resection and vascular surgery. Although those modalities give operators additional information such as tumor extension or vascular patency under microscope, its efficacy in endoscopic surgery is not confirmed. The authors applied the indocyanine green (ICG) fluorescence endoscopy in endoscopic endonasal skull base surgery and successfully recorded ICG fluorescence from sellar dura, pituitary, and surrounding structures in 30 consecutive patients. Also we could distinguish sellar tumor from pituitary gland or stalk. There were no complications that resulted from the use of ICG or the fluorescent light source. ICG fluorescence endoscopy shows promise as an intraoperative modality that can help preserve the normal pituitary function while avoiding dangerous dissection which may contribute to further develop the fluorescence endoscopic resection technique.
