Long-term evaluation of reconstruction of the sellar floor with a silicone plate in transsphenoidal surgery

Object. The authors have used a silicone plate for reconstruction of the sellar floor during rhinoseptoplastic transsphenoidal surgery because it has greater elasticity and is easier to carve than nasal septal cartilage and sphenoid sinus bone. This study was designed to evaluate the usefulness of this technique based on the authors' experience during the past 7.6 years. Methods. A silicone plate was used to reconstruct the sellar floor in 69 consecutive patients with sellar tumors that included 60 pituitary adenomas and nine Rathke's deft cysts. The patients ranged in age from 16 to 82 years (mean 52 years). The postoperative position of the silicone plate could be clearly identified on sagittal or coronal magnetic resonance (MR) imaging as a very low Intensity plate (void signal). No displacement or migration of the implanted silicone plate was observed on follow-up MR imaging in any patient. Infections of the lesion such as a pituitary abscess were not observed clinically or radiologically in any patient. Of the 16 patients with intraoperative cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leakage, only one patient who had a ghost sella developed postoperative CSF rhinorrhea. In all seven patients who underwent repeated surgery for residual or recurrent tumor, the silicone plate that had been placed at the initial procedure was covered with a relatively thin fibrous capsule and the plate was well preserved. The silicone plate was easily removed at reoperation and was useful for detection of the sellar floor window made previously. Conclusions. These results indicate that a silicone plate can be useful for reconstruction of the sellar floor in rhinoseptoplastic transsphenoidal surgery.