Non-functional pituitary carcinoma

We present as case to review and present the clinical features, diagnosis and treatment of non-functional pituitary carcinoma (NFPC). We operated on a case of NFPC. After surgery, gamma knife therapy, temozolomide chemotherapy and whole craniospinal irradiation, the patient still had poor tumor control and died 7 months after operation. FPC is very rare. It needs to be diagnosed with a combination of clinical suspicion, imaging and dynamic monitoring. It is necessary to find more effective methods to control the progress of tumor while routine treatment fails.

Glomus Tumor of Sella Turcica With Synaptophysin Expression Mimicking Pituitary Adenoma

Glomus tumor can rarely arise in the central nervous system as a sella turcica mass. In this article, we report a case of sellar glomus tumor in a female patient who presented at the age of 8 years with visual impairment. The tumor recurred at 4 years and 26 years after initial excision and gamma knife therapy. Histologic examination showed a monotonous population of oval cells accompanied by delicate blood vessels, features mimicking pituitary adenoma. The tumor showed histologic progression at the second recurrence. Synaptophysin staining was positive, but chromogranin and CD56 were negative. The tumor cells were negative for epithelial markers but expressed actin and SMA. Awareness of the rare occurrence of glomus tumor at this region, careful analysis of morphology, and appropriate immunohistochemical workup are essential to solve this diagnostic challenge. The clinicopathologic features of all previously reported cases are reviewed.

Pilocytic Midbrain Astrocytoma Presenting with Fresh Bleed after Twenty-one-years Survival Following First Surgery: A Unique Case of Longest Brainstem Glioma Survival

ABSTRACTBrainstem glioma usually carries a poor prognosis and prolonged survival is very infrequent. In a detailed Pubmed, Medline search for prolonged survival, authors could got a longest survival only up to seventeen years, reported by Umehara et al, who was subjected to gamma knife therapy and got symptomatic, MRI brain reveled large tumor growth during pregnancy necessitating emergency surgery and histopathological diagnosis was pilocytic astrocytoma. Authors report an interesting case of midbrain glioma diagnosed 21 years back, who underwent gross resection in the year 1993, histopathology was pilocytic astrocytoma, WHO grade I, and received gamma knife surgery for residual subsequently and he presented with sudden onset left sided hemiplegia on the current admission. The cranial MRI imaging revealed an infarct involving right hemi midbrain, contrast MRI brain revealed no residual glioma. To the best knowledge of authors such prolonged survival is not reported with a case of brainstem glioma survived twenty- one years with non residual tumor on the last imaging study represents first case of its kind in the western literature and probably developed hemiplegia due to bleed, highlighting bleed as delayed complication following gamma knife therapy for cranial tumors

Aggressive Cushing disease five years after the treatment of a nonfunctional pituitary adenoma

Introduction. Cushing's disease (CD) represents 10%–12% of all pituitary adenomas and is seen predominantly in women, with a female-to-male ratio of 8:1. Although most patients with ACTH-secreting adenomas present with benign, small tumors, some have invasive macroadenomas. Rarely, nonfunctional pituitary adenomas (NFPAs) may gain secretory function, but there have been a few case reports of metamorphosis to CD.Case report. We report the case of a 59-year-old female diagnosed in 2007 with a NFPA and panhypopituitarism. She had two transsphenoidal surgeries and Gamma Knife therapy and started replacement treatment with levothyroxine 75mcg/day and prednisone 5mg/day. The postoperative course was favorable and imagistic follow-up between 2007-2014 showed progressive reduction of the residual tumor and empty sella. From personal history we note noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, postmenopausal osteoporosis treated with bisphosphonates. In January 2015 she suffered visual loss on the right eye. Pituitary MRI showed supra and parasellar tumor recurrence of 27/24/17mm, infiltrating the right side of the cavernous sinus, extending around the right internal carotid artery and optic nerve, compressing the optic chiasm. In March 2015 a third transsphenoidal partial excision of the tumor was performed and in August Gamma Knife therapy was repeated. The histopathological examination was consistent with a pituitary adenoma but immunohistochemical staining for ACTH was positive, with Ki-67=25%. She had no non-specific cushingoid features. Laboratory test: glucose=116mg/dl, HbA1c=7.5%, FSH=3.34mIU/ml, LH=0.585mIU/ml TSH=0.044mcIU/ml, FT4=1.13ng/dl. Prednisone replacement therapy was stopped and CD was confirmed: 8AMcortisol=13.3mcg/dl, 23PMcortisol=11.3mcg/dl, ACTH=70.2pg/ml, 8AMcortisol after 1mg dexamethasone overnight=13.8mcg/dl. Ophthalmic exam: blindness in the right eye, slightly decreased visual field in the left eye. Pituitary MRI 8-month postsurgery revealed a 28/31/28mm invasive tumor. We started treatment with Cabergoline 3mg/week and recommended closely biological and imagistic follow-up, hoping for a good response to radiotherapy.Conclusions: Our case stresses the importance of regular, lifelong follow-up of patients with NFPAs. Chiloiro et al have reported that pituitary adenomas with Ki-67≥1.5% have a higher risk of recurrence. Although the characteristics of patients with CD have been well known for decades, the diagnosis and management of this disease are often challenging.