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USC PITUITARY AND ANTERIOR
SKULL-BASE PROGRAM

Over the course of the past 30 years, the neurosurgeons at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine have taken a leadership role in the treatment of complex tumors in the sellar and parasellar region of the anterior skull-base at both the national and international levels. These efforts have enabled us to develop the largest surgical experience in the management of these lesions in the Western United States. Indeed, our surgical experience currently exceeds over 3000 cases operated via the transnasal approach. In addition, a large surgical experience through the transcranial approach has also been compiled. In conjunction with endocrinologists both in the community and at USC, an equally large number of patients have been successfully managed by nonoperative strategies. Concurrent development of the latest methods in stereotactic radiosurgery at USC have resulted in the integration of this important adjuvant routinely in very complex tumors for which complete resection is associated with very high risk.

Pituitary and Sellar/ Parasellar Tumors

Those tumors that affect the sellar/parasellar regions includepituitary tumors, craniopharyngiomas, Rathke’s cleft cysts, meningiomas, and other less common neoplasms and inflammatory processes. Sellar/parasellar lesions can present with neuroendocrine abnormalities due to hypothalamic/pituitary failure or secretion of hormones by functional tumors, or with visual loss due to mass effect on critical neurovascular structures. The neurosurgeons at USC have developed an extensive experience with the diagnosis and evaluation of all lesions that affect this complex area of the human brain and skull-base.

Multidisciplinary Approach

At USC, pituitary and sellarparasellar tumors are managed with a multidisciplinary approach that involves neurosurgery, endocrinology, neuro-opthalmology, stereotactic radiosurgery, diagnostic radiology, interventional neuroradiology, radiation oncology, and pathology that take advantage of the resources of the Keck School of Medicine as well as the community. Patients undergo an extensive neuroendocrine work-up. Appropriate diagnostic imaging studies are completed, along with a full neuroopthalmologic evaluation when indicated. Once a lesion has been characterized in this manner, the best operative and non-operative treatment strategy is outlined. This may include surgery via the trans-nasal or transcranial routes and/or medical, stereotactic radiosurgical, and radiation approaches. The most modern and advanced techniques and equipment are used in all stages of treatment. The patients are followed closely for recurrent disease by both the neurosurgeons at USC, referring physicians, as well as by other physicians at USC as appropriate.

Martin H.Weiss, M.D.
Martin Harvey Weiss Professor of
Neurological Surgery.

Dr. Weiss is a graduate of Dartmouth College and the Cornell University Medical College. He completed his residency at the Case Western Reserve University. He is the former Chair of the Department of Neurological Surgery at USC and has been principally responsible for the development of the surgical arm of the treatment of pituitary and sellarparasellar lesions at USC. His personal experience of trans-nasal surgeries number among the largest active series in the world. He has written and lectured extensively on the subject and is internationally recognized as an authority on the treatment of sellar/parasellar lesions. He has served in numerous leadership positions in organized neurosurgery, including as President of the American Association of Neurological Surgery. He currently serves as the Director of the Neurosurgical Research and Education Foundation of the AANS

Charles Y. Liu, M.D., Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of
Neurological Surgery.

Dr. Liu graduated from the College of Engineering of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, with a BSE in Chemical Engineering. Subsequently, he completed his Ph.D. in Chemical/Biomedical Engineering at the Institute of Biosciences and Bioengineering at Rice University. He attended Yale University School of Medicine, and completed his neurosurgical training at USC. Dr. Liu has worked closely with Dr. Weiss for the past 10 years and is an expert in the surgical management of pituitary and sellar/parasellar tumors. Since 2004, Dr. Liu has served as the Co-Director of the USC Pituitary Center. Dr. Liu conducts research on neural stem cells at the California Institute of Technology, for which he has won numerous awards. He currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Congress of Neurological Surgeons.