2013 Pietro Paoletti Conference: Endoscopic Transsphenoidal Surgery—An Educational Perspective

I considered this commitment, assigned to me for 2013, a prestigious form of recognition, and I have tried to give this distinguished auditorium the sense of the work that has been evolving throughout my years of neurosurgery. Since the late 1970s, surgery via a transsphenoidal approach had been used in our medical school to treat pituitary adenomas. As a result of transsphenoidal surgery, we have been able ascend to a new level, which has been our center of gravity and our model for renovation and improvement. We created a team committed to meticulous hard work, with each member in his or her own field and with his or her own techniques striving to turn projects into reality. This is a team of people who refuse to remain where they are, with respect for and always in favor of better outcomes for patients. This attitude has permitted the development of an efficient system of care and has made Naples a center of excellence for pituitary and skull base surgery.