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1st
appeared 06 July 1999
Practice Makes Perfect - Wilson Performs 3000th
Transphenoidal Surgery
Famed neurosurgeon Charlie Wilson, UCSF professor of
neurosurgery, performed his 3,000th transphenoidal surgery for a pituitary tumor at UCSF
Medical Center, part of UCSF Stanford Health Care, on June 22.
In this procedure, developed in the 1920s but perfected by Wilson in the 1970s with the
advent of microsurgery, the surgeon gains access to the pituitary gland, located at the
base of the brain, by entering the sinus cavity.
 The size of a large pea, the pituitary gland produces hormones that
control growth and development. Tiny tumors in the pituitary can cause a host of serious
problems, including growth abnormalities, and if tumors grow, they put pressure on nerves,
causing loss of vision and other problems.
In the "old" days, pituitary surgery was risky because a surgeon had to cut
through the forehead and lift the frontal lobes of the brain to get to the pituitary. And
once there, it was difficult to remove the tumor without harming the gland itself. In most
cases, physicians used radiation and hormone therapy, rather than risk surgery.
But by approaching the tumors through the sphenoid sinus, surgeons have been able for the
last 20-plus years to remove them without risking damage to normal brain tissue. After
surgery, the only mark is a thin scar across the gum above the teeth.
Patients from all over the world have entrusted their brain surgery to Wilson, who joined
UCSF in 1968 as professor and chair of the division of neurological surgery. For a little
over a decade now, Wilson has been removing 150 to 200 pituitary tumors each year.
Wilson recently held the position of Senior Associate on Medical Affairs to the President
of the University of California and now, in addition to his work at UCSF, is Senior
Research Fellow with the Health Care Group at the Institute of the Future in Menlo Park,
California.
Links:
Charlie Wilson biography
UCSF Department of Neurological Surgery
UCSF Stanford Health Care
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