The procedure, like all planned operations, is methodical, calm, controlled, predictable, with precautions in place for possible problems or emergencies. The operation is so un-invasive, it more resembles routine dental work than major surgery. Yet, Laws and his colleagues are working at the very edge of the brain. There is little room here for error.

In past years, pituitary surgery was more dramatic, and intensive, for both the surgeon and the patient. It involved removing a portion of the skull and pushing the brain aside to reach the pituitary. The recovery period was long, and there was much greater risk for damage and complications. Laws and others invented and refined the current technique — passage through the nose — which rarely involves direct contact with the brain, even as they operate within its midst.

The pituitary gland is located at the base of the brain near the spinal cord, in the lower center of the head. This gland, normally the size of a pea, is the master gland that controls the production of all hormones. The pituitary controls growth, sexual maturation, fertility, metabolism, stress response and fluid balances.

For reasons not well understood, the pituitary is subject to the slow growth of tumors. These tumors are the third-most common type of primary brain tumor, accounting for 20 percent of all brain tumors. Though these tumors are almost always benign, they aren’t friendly. They can cause the pituitary gland to produce excessive or insufficient amounts of hormones, leading to a vast array of unpleasant symptoms, including severe and chronic headaches, infertility, sexual dysfunction, fatigue, weight gain, depression, apathy, sleep disorders, memory loss, and in some cases, loss of vision. Pituitary disorders also are the cause of Cushing’s syndrome, which results in obesity, “moonlike” features of the face, excess body hair and thin brittle bones.

Photographs by Andrew Shurtleff

Pituitary surgeries are discussed prior to and after each operation.

Because the symptoms of pituitary disorders are so varied, it can take years to arrive at a correct diagnosis,” Laws said. “Patients often think that their health problems are attributed to just getting older.”

It takes a brain scan in the form of magnetic resonance imaging to confirm the presence of a pituitary tumor. Sometimes the tumor is three times the size of the gland itself, putting pressure on the brain and optic nerve, resulting in headaches and vision loss. Small tumors often can be treated with hormones and drugs. Radiation may shrink the tumor or inhibit its growth. If the tumor continues to grow, and symptoms worsen, surgery may be necessary.

Laws discovered early, at the beginning of his medical training at Johns Hopkins University, that he was interested in neurosurgery. His fascination with the brain has continued throughout his 40-year career as a surgeon and brain tumor researcher.

“How beautiful the brain is,” he said recently. “I’m amazed with what happens with the human brain, and I love dealing with it in an intimate fashion.” He describes the brain as “one of the greatest of God’s creations.”

But he’s happy to fix that creation when something goes wrong.

“We can restore vision,” he said of pituitary surgery. “We can restore fertility and reverse body changes. This is enormously satisfying.”

These tumors are identified using magnetic resonance imaging.

One of the first patients Laws treated with the through-the-nose surgical method was a 21-year-old man named Harvey Gartner. The surgery was performed in 1969 at The Johns Hopkins Hospital where Laws was a neurosurgery resident. Gartner had been growing rapidly since he was 6 months old. His bones were elongated, and he suffered from arthritis and other ailments.

“Those were tough years,” Gartner said of his youth.

The operation took 12 hours to complete, and all of the pituitary gland was removed, as was standard at the time. Gartner, now 56, is on lifetime hormone replacement therapy, but his health is generally good.

“I would have died,” if not for the surgery, he said.

Gartner is now a computer programmer and businessman in Jacksonville, Fla. He has remained in contact with Laws, and the pediatrician who cared for him throughout his life, Dr. Robert Blizzard, a U.Va. professor emeritus of pediatric endocrinology. At the time of Gartner’s surgery, Hopkins was the top pituitary center in the United States. That title has long since shifted to U.Va. as a result of Laws, Blizzard and others coming here to establish their interdisciplinary center.

Today, surgeons rarely need to remove the entire pituitary gland. Instead, when surgery is necessary, they remove only the tumor attached to the gland. The entire procedure, including prepping the patient for surgery and the post-operative period, can be accomplished in a couple of hours. The patient is able to return home in two or three days and can resume normal activities in two to four weeks.

Within a few days after surgery, the patient’s severe headaches will have diminished. Vision will be restored within a day in cases where the tumor had pressed against the optic nerve. Body changes, such as weight loss and normalization of facial features, will occur in about six months. Throughout the patient’s life, teams of endocrinologists and other specialists will measure the patient’s hormone levels and develop and refine treatment plans. Laws said some patients might not even need hormone replacement therapy.

“I don’t think anybody does this work better than we do at U.Va.,” Laws said recently between surgeries. “We’re improving our techniques and reducing the recurrence of tumors after surgery.”

At this moment he is called back into the operating room. Another patient is prepped and waiting.