Knosp Grade (Pituitary Adenoma)

Knosp classification (Knosp 1993) of cavernous sinus invasion by a pituitary adenoma (grades 0-4), on coronal MRI, using the internal carotid artery (ICA) as the landmark - predictive of surgical remission.

Open the calculator → Runs in your browser. Data leaves only if you deliberately send a problem report from the interactive tool.

Example

Knosp grade
Grade 4 - total ICA encasement

Result: Knosp grade 4: total encasement of the intracavernous internal carotid artery.

The tool opens with these values already filled in. Replace them with your own.

What the result means

Grade 0
Medial to the medial tangent of the ICA; no cavernous sinus involvement.
Grades 1-2
Past the medial tangent to the intercarotid line (1) or to the lateral tangent (2) of the ICA.
Grade 3
Lateral to the lateral tangent of the ICA (3A superior / 3B inferior); invasion likely.
Grade 4
Total encasement of the intracavernous ICA.

What you enter

  • Knosp grade
How this is calculated

Knosp E, Steiner E, Kitz K, Matula C. Pituitary adenomas with invasion of the cavernous sinus space: a magnetic resonance imaging classification compared with surgical findings. Neurosurgery. 1993;33(4):610-617. Read the source ↗

A reference and educational tool. Not medical, legal, or financial advice, and not a substitute for clinician judgment.

Browse all tools

Built by Clay Good. Source on GitHub.