Identifying research priorities for pituitary adenoma surgery: an international Delphi consensus statement.
Creators: name: Newall, Nicola
name: Valetopoulou, Alexandra
name: Khan, Danyal Z
name: Borg, Anouk
name: Bouloux, Pierre MG
name: Bremner, Fion
name: Buchfelder, Michael
name: Cudlip, Simon
name: Dorward, Neil
name: Drake, William M
name: Fernandez-Miranda, Juan C
name: Fleseriu, Maria
name: Geltzeiler, Mathew
name: Ginn, Joy
name: Gurnell, Mark
name: Harris, Steve
name: Jaunmuktane, Zane
name: Korbonits, Márta
name: Kosmin, Michael
name: Koulouri, Olympia
name: Horsfall, Hugo Layard
name: Mamelak, Adam N
name: Mannion, Richard
name: McBride, Pat
name: McCormack, Ann I
name: Melmed, Shlomo
name: Miszkiel, Katherine A
name: Raverot, Gerald
name: Santarius, Thomas
name: Schwartz, Theodore H
name: Serrano, Inma
name: Zada, Gabriel
name: Baldeweg, Stephanie E
name: Kolias, Angelos G
name: Marcus, Hani J
name: Collaborative, PitCop
Publisher: name: The Francis Crick Institute
Year: 2025
Subjects: classificationCode: Neurosciences
subject: Neurosciences
subject: FOS: Clinical medicine
classificationCode: Microfabrication & Bioengineering
subject: Microfabrication &amp; Bioengineering
classificationCode: Ecology,Evolution & Ethology
subject: Ecology,Evolution &amp; Ethology
classificationCode: Computational & Systems Biology
subject: Computational &amp; Systems Biology

description: PURPOSE: Pituitary surgery is the mainstay treatment for most pituitary adenomas, but many questions remain about perioperative and long-term management and outcomes. This study aimed to identify the most pressing research priorities in pituitary surgery with input from patients, caregivers, and healthcare professionals. METHODS: An initial survey of patients, caregivers, and healthcare professionals assembled priorities related to preoperative care, surgical techniques, and postoperative management in pituitary surgery. Priorities were thematically grouped into summary priorities, and those answered by existing evidence were omitted following a literature review. An interim survey asked patients, caregivers, and healthcare professionals to select their top 10 priorities from the remaining list. The highest-ranked priorities advanced to a consensus meeting, where the top 10 questions were prioritized. RESULTS: In the initial survey, 147 participants-60.5% of whom were patients, caregivers, or patient support group representatives-submitted 785 priorities, which were then condensed into 52 summary priorities. After a literature review, 33 unanswered priorities were included in the interim survey, completed by 155 respondents, of whom 54.2% were patients, caregivers, or patient support group representatives. The top-ranked priorities were discussed by 14 participants (7 patients and 7 healthcare professionals) during a consensus meeting. The top 10 priorities covered a variety of themes including enhancing diagnosis and management of pituitary adenomas, advancing surgical techniques and technologies, optimizing the prediction of outcomes and complications, and improving patient support and follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: The top 10 research priorities in pituitary surgery aim to align researchers and direct funding in order to maximize impact and champion patient representation.