Lymphocytic adenohypophysitis of pregnancy simulating a pituitary adenoma: a distinct pathological entity

1982 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 148-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
David S. Baskin ◽  
Jeannette J. Townsend ◽  
Charles B. Wilson

✓ Diffuse lymphocytic infiltration of the adenohypophysis occurring in temporal relation to pregnancy was found in two patients, each of whom had an intasellar mass with suprasellar extension that caused compression of the optic chiasm. The pathology and etiology of this lesion is discussed. This entity should be considered when evaluating patients with a pituitary mass lesion that presents in temporal association to pregnancy, particularly if there is evidence of hypopituitarism rather than a hypersecreting, endocrineactive adenoma.

1980 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 144-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carin Muhr ◽  
Kjell Bergstrom ◽  
Paul Enoksson ◽  
Rune Hugosson ◽  
Per Olov Lundberg

✓ This study was based on 24 consecutive patients operated on for pituitary adenoma with suprasellar extension, and treated postoperatively with radiotherapy. The follow-up period was 5 to 10 years. A clinical examination, endocrine evaluation, perimetry, computerized tomography (CT) and sellar roentgenography were performed in 19 of 20 surviving patients. The CT scans revealed four recurrences, while perimetry only showed an increased visual field defect in one patient. Plain sellar films were of no value for diagnosis of recurrence. Prolactin determinations seemed to have a limited value in recurrence diagnosis, but very high levels spoke in favor of a recurrence. Thus, CT was found to be the superior method of diagnosing recurrences. It is proposed that CT be used regularly in the follow-up study of patients operated on for a pituitary adenoma.


2005 ◽  
Vol 102 (6) ◽  
pp. 1004-1012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald J. Benveniste ◽  
Wesley A. King ◽  
Jane Walsh ◽  
Jacob S. Lee ◽  
Bradley N. Delman ◽  
...  

Object. In this paper the authors describe the indications for and the results and complications of repeated transsphenoidal surgery (RTSS) to treat recurrent or residual pituitary adenoma. Methods. A retrospective review was conducted of 96 consecutive patients who underwent RTSS to treat recurrent or residual pituitary adenoma. Ninety-six patients underwent RTSS: 42 to treat a recurrent or residual pituitary mass and 54 to treat a recurrent or persistent hormone hypersecretion. There was no case of perioperative death and there was a 1% incidence of major complications. Postoperative endocrinological deficiencies were uncommon unless planned total hypophysectomy was performed to treat Cushing disease. Clinical remission occurred in 93% of patients undergoing RTSS to treat a tumor mass, and 15% of patients initially experienced remission only to face a relapse after a mean of 32 months. Endocrinological remission occurred in 57% of patients undergoing RTSS to treat hormone hypersecretion; most of these patients had Cushing disease. Thirty-five percent of patients with an initial endocrinological remission experienced a relapse of their symptoms after a mean of 31 months (thus, 37% of patients achieved sustained endocrinological remission). We failed to identify factors that accurately predicted initial symptom remission or delayed relapse following RTSS. Ten patients in our series eventually underwent a third transsphenoidal surgery without major complications. Conclusions. Repeated transsphenoidal surgery is a more effective treatment for recurrent or residual mass than it is for hormone hypersecretion and has acceptable rates of morbidity and mortality. If hypophysectomy is not performed, endocrinological deficiencies are unlikely following RTSS.


2005 ◽  
Vol 102 (Special_Supplement) ◽  
pp. 180-184 ◽  
Author(s):  
György T. Szeifert ◽  
Isabelle Salmon ◽  
Sandrine Rorive ◽  
Nicolas Massager ◽  
Daniel Devriendt ◽  
...  

Object. The aim of this study was to analyze the cellular immune response and histopathological changes in secondary brain tumors after gamma knife surgery (GKS). Methods. Two hundred ten patients with cerebral metastases underwent GKS. Seven patients underwent subsequent craniotomy for tumor removal between 1 and 33 months after GKS. Four of these patients had one tumor, two patients had two tumors, and one patient had three. Histological and immunohistochemical investigations were performed. In addition to routine H & E and Mallory trichrome staining, immunohistochemical reactions were conducted to characterize the phenotypic nature of the cell population contributing to the tissue immune response to neoplastic deposits after radiosurgery. Light microscopy revealed an intensive lymphocytic infiltration in the parenchyma and stroma of tumor samples obtained in patients in whom surgery was performed over 6 months after GKS. Contrary to this, extensive areas of tissue necrosis with either an absent or scanty lymphoid population were observed in the poorly controlled neoplastic specimens obtained in cases in which surgery was undertaken in patients less than 6 months after GKS. Immunohistochemical characterization demonstrated the predominance of CD3-positive T cells in the lymphoid infiltration. Conclusions. Histopathological findings of the present study are consistent with a cellular immune response of natural killer cells against metastatic brain tumors, presumably stimulated by the ionizing energy of focused radiation.


1989 ◽  
Vol 70 (5) ◽  
pp. 728-731 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jesús Vaquero ◽  
Santiago Coca ◽  
Santiago Oya ◽  
Roberto Martínez ◽  
Josefa Ramiro ◽  
...  

✓ A monoclonal antibody against the surface marker IOT-10 of natural killer (NK) cells was used to investigate the presence of these cells in a series of 25 glioblastomas. In 40% of the tumors, IOT-10-positive NK cells were found in small numbers scattered among the tumor cells. The presence of IOT-10-positive NK cells was not related to the degree of lymphocytic infiltration in the tumor as demonstrated by hematoxylin and eosin staining, nor did it appear to influence the survival time of the patients studied.


1998 ◽  
Vol 88 (6) ◽  
pp. 1111-1115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kalman Kovacs ◽  
Eva Horvath ◽  
Lucia Stefaneanu ◽  
Juan Bilbao ◽  
William Singer ◽  
...  

✓ The authors report on the morphological features of a pituitary adenoma that produced growth hormone (GH) and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH). This hormone combination produced by a single adenoma is extremely rare; a review of the available literature showed that only one previous case has been published. The tumor, which was removed from a 62-year-old man with acromegaly, was studied by histological and immunocytochemical analyses, transmission electron microscopy, immunoelectron microscopy, and in situ hybridization. When the authors used light microscopy, the tumor appeared to be a bimorphous mixed pituitary adenoma composed of two separate cell types: one cell population synthesized GH and the other ACTH. The cytogenesis of pituitary adenomas that produce more than one hormone is obscure. It may be that two separate cells—one somatotroph and one corticotroph—transformed into neoplastic cells, or that the adenoma arose in a common stem cell that differentiated into two separate cell types. In this case immunoelectron microscopy conclusively demonstrated ACTH in the secretory granules of several somatotrophs. This was associated with a change in the morphological characteristics of secretory granules. Thus it is possible that the tumor was originally a somatotropic adenoma that began to produce ACTH as a result of mutations that occurred during tumor progression.


1983 ◽  
Vol 58 (3) ◽  
pp. 411-415 ◽  
Author(s):  
James E. Boggan ◽  
Richard L. Davis ◽  
Greg Zorman ◽  
Charles B. Wilson

✓ The authors report the uncomplicated removal of an intrasellar epidermoid cyst that on presentation mimicked a pituitary adenoma. Current controversies regarding the differentiation of this cyst from other cystic lesions of the sellar region are reviewed.


2001 ◽  
Vol 95 (2) ◽  
pp. 233-241 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Edward Vates ◽  
Mitchel S. Berger ◽  
Charles B. Wilson

Object. Pituitary abscess is a rare but serious intrasellar infection. To better determine the salient signs and symptoms that help in making the diagnosis, and to determine the most appropriate treatment, the authors reviewed their experience in a series of 24 patients treated at the University of California at San Francisco. Methods. Nine of the patients were female and 15 were male, and their mean age was 41.2 years (range 12–71 years). Surprisingly, most patients in our series presented with complaints and physical findings consistent with a pituitary mass, but rarely with evidence of a serious infection. Headache, endocrine abnormalities, and visual changes were the most common clinical indicators; fever, peripheral leukocytosis, and meningismus were present in 33% or fewer of the patients. Imaging tests demonstrated a pituitary mass in all patients, but the features evident on computerized tomography and magnetic resonance studies did not distinguish pituitary abscesses from other, more common intrasellar lesions. Because of the ambiguous clinical features and imaging findings, most abscesses were not diagnosed before treatment; rather, the diagnosis was made during surgical exploration of the sella turcica, when the surgeon encountered a cystic mass containing pus. There were only two deaths in this series (8.3%). Patients presenting with headache and visual changes noted improvement in almost all cases; patients with endocrine dysfunction generally did not recover normal pituitary function, but were easily treated with hormone replacement therapy. Conclusions. Antibiotic therapy is suggested for patients who have symptoms of sepsis, or for patients in whom specific organisms are identified from cultures obtained during surgery. The transsphenoidal approach is recommended over open craniotomy for surgical drainage.


2001 ◽  
Vol 95 (6) ◽  
pp. 1012-1019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin A. Proescholdt ◽  
Marsha J. Merrill ◽  
Barbara Ikejiri ◽  
Stuart Walbridge ◽  
Aytac Akbasak ◽  
...  

Object. Immunotherapy for glioblastoma has been uniformly ineffective. The immunological environment of the brain, with its low expression of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules and limited access for inflammatory cells and humoral immune effectors due to the blood—brain barrier (BBB), may contribute to the failure of immunotherapy. The authors hypothesize that brain tumors are protected from immune surveillance by an intact BBB at early stages of development. To investigate the immunological characteristics of early tumor growth, the authors compared the host response to a glioma implanted into the brain and into subcutaneous tissue. Methods. Samples of tumors growing in the brain or subcutaneously in rats were obtained for 7 consecutive days and were examined immunohistochemically for MHC Class I & II molecules, and for CD4 and CD8 lymphocyte markers. Additionally, B7-1 costimulatory molecule expression and lymphocyte-specific apoptosis were examined. Conclusions. On Days 3 and 4 after implantation, brain tumors displayed significantly lower MHC Class II expression and lymphocytic infiltration (p < 0.05). After Day 5, however, no differences were detected. The MHC Class II expressing cells within the brain tumors appeared to be infiltrating microglia. Minimal B7-1 expression combined with lymphocyte-specific apoptosis were detected in both brain and subcutaneous tumors. Low MHC Class II expression and low lymphocytic infiltration at early time points indicate the importance of the immunologically privileged status of the brain during early tumor growth. These characteristics disappeared at later time points, possibly because the increasing perturbation of the BBB alters the specific immunological environment of the brain. The lack of B7-1 expression combined with lymphocyte apoptosis indicates clonal anergy of glioma-infiltrating lymphocytes regardless of implantation site.


1979 ◽  
Vol 51 (6) ◽  
pp. 866-869 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip H. Gutin ◽  
William G. Cushard ◽  
Charles B. Wilson

✓ A patient with a pituitary adenoma secreting adrenocorticotropin hormone manifested panhypopituitarism after an episode of pituitary apoplexy. The previously elevated urinary levels of 17-ketogenic steroids dropped sharply, and plasma cortisol became undetectable. The apoplexy also resulted in a partially empty sella on which the dorsum sellae collapsed. Recurrent Cushing's disease developed and was cured by transsphenoidal resection of a microadenoma.


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