Visual function impairment in sellar region tumors: An initial study

Introduction: Early stage sellar region tumor often showed impairment of visual acuity and visual field, which may lead to permanent visual loss, and other neurological complications in advanced stage, that could impair the quality of life. Medical and surgical management could contribute to successful management if treated well in early stage. Methods: We analyzed and reported the demographic and clinical characteristics, visual function, referral trend, and factors affecting visual outcome after sellar tumor resection in Neurosurgery Department Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital, Faculty of Medicine Universitas Indonesia from 2014–2016. Results: We analyzed 34 sellar tumors patients, most of them were pituitary adenoma (70.6%). Both eyes blindness found in 16 (41.2%) patients, 11 (38.2%) with one eye blindness, the rest with visual impairment. Optic atrophy found in 29 (85.3%) patients. All patients had visited other physicians, mostly ophthalmologists (42.2%) before came to our neurosurgery clinic with average time of symptoms of 21.5 months. Onset to operation duration was the predictive factors of visual improvement in patients with sellar tumor (adjusted OR 8.82, 95% CI 1.2–56.2). Conclusion: The onset to operation duration is the predictive factors of visual improvement in sellar tumor patients. The visual acuity and visual field impairment should be examined comprehensively and immediately be referred to the department of neurosurgery for further diagnosis and treatment.