Reported Baseline Variables in Transsphenoidal Surgery for Pituitary Adenoma over a 30 Year Period: a Systematic Review

Heterogeneous reporting in baseline variables in patients undergoing transsphenoidal resection of pituitary adenoma precludes meaningful meta-analysis. We therefore examined trends in reported baseline variables, and degree of heterogeneity of reported variables in 30 years of literature. A systematic review of PubMed and Embase was conducted on studies that reported outcomes for transsphenoidal surgery for pituitary adenoma 1990–2021. The protocol was registered a priori and adhered to the PRISMA statement. Full-text studies in English with > 10 patients (prospective), > 500 patients (retrospective), or randomised trials were included. 178 studies were included, comprising 427,659 patients: 52 retrospective (29