For the first time, Vietnam applies modern neuroendoscopic surgery system

Cho Ray Hospital ( Ho Chi Minh City) has just put into use the 4K-ICG-1 Endoscopic Neurosurgery System to successfully perform surgery on many complicated cases of giant pituitary tumors, craniopharyngiomas, and meningiomas in the skull base area.

This is the first hospital in Vietnam equipped with this modern surgical system.

Recently, male patient NTP (57 years old, living in Khanh Hoa province) had a giant pituitary tumor and severe vision loss.

Although the patient had been examined and treated in many places for 10 years, the cause from the nervous system was not detected.

The patient was transferred to Cho Ray Hospital with severe headaches, pituitary failure and very weak vision, only able to distinguish palm shadows.

MRI results showed that the patient had a 56mm pituitary tumor - a giant pituitary tumor, accounting for only 10% of all pituitary tumors.

The tumor invaded the sphenoid sinus, cavernous sinus, compressed the optic chiasm and two internal carotid arteries.

Dr. Tran Thien Khiem, Department of Neurosurgery, said that this is a very complicated disease, with the risk of damaging many important blood vessel and nerve structures, and the rate of complete tumor removal according to medical reports recorded at major centers around the world is only 3-40%.

Doctors at Cho Ray Hospital decided to perform endoscopic surgery through the nasal-sphenoid sinus. However, this time the team used the 4K-ICG-1 Neuroendoscopic Surgery System - a modern technology that Cho Ray Hospital has been applying since mid-2025.

This system has specialized functions for neurosurgery such as: compact endoscope design, shortened length, mainly using rigid tube and diverse viewing angles.

“In the case of a giant tumor like this patient, the most important requirement is to remove as much of the tumor as possible while still preserving the pituitary stalk, the healthy pituitary gland and the surrounding blood-nerve system, especially the two internal carotid arteries. With the new system, when injecting ICG fluorescent dye, blood vessels and important structures will be clearly visible on the 4K screen, helping the surgeon in each operation. Thanks to that, the team was able to remove almost the entire tumor, increasing the effectiveness of the surgery, thereby improving the quality of treatment for the patient," Dr. Tran Thien Khiem shared.

After 5 days, the patient was alert, able to eat and drink by himself, his pituitary gland function was stable, his vision improved significantly and he was discharged from the hospital, successfully recovering his health after more than 10 years of living with the disease.

Dr. Tran Huy Hoan Bao, Head of the Department of Neurosurgery, Cho Ray Hospital, informed that giant pituitary tumors and complex skull base tumors are always big challenges in the field of neurosurgery.

Tumors often invade deeply, closely related to many important vascular-neural structures. With previous methods, removing the maximum tumor mass while preserving these structures required high technique and had many potential risks of complications.

With the 4K-ICG Neuroendoscopy System, the ability to observe in the surgical field has changed significantly. Surgeons can distinguish the boundary between tumor and benign tissue, pituitary stalk and blood vessels more sharply and objectively.

Up to now, the Department of Neurosurgery, Cho Ray Hospital has applied the 4K-ICG Endoscopic Neurosurgery System to successfully treat more than 30 complicated cases of giant pituitary tumors, craniopharyngiomas, meningiomas in the skull base, osteochondromas in the basal slope area, etc., helping to increase the safety and effectiveness of surgery, thereby improving the quality of treatment for patients and significantly improving the post-operative recovery results of patients./.

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