There are few reports of pituitary adenomas (PA) mimicking dementia. Delay in disease diagnosis and treatment may result in poor clinical outcome. We experienced a rare case where endoscopic transsphenoidal surgery (eTSS) effectively treated a gonadotroph adenoma mimicking dementia and report on literature considerations. We report the case of a 72-year-old man with chief complaints of cognitive decline, bradykinesia, anorexia, dressing apraxia, and vigor decline over several months. He was admitted to our hospital for scrutiny in a disoriented state. Blood tests showed hyponatremia and thyroid hormone depression. Magnetic resonance imaging showed a pituitary tumor, and preoperative endocrine stress tests showed reduced reactivities of growth hormone, adrenocorticotropic hormone/cortisol, and luteinizing hormone/follicle-stimulating hormone. Symptomatic pituitary adenoma was suspected, and eTSS was performed. The permanent pathological diagnosis was of gonadotroph adenoma. Postoperatively, the hyponatremia, cognitive decline, movement retardation, loss of appetite, dressing apraxia, and limb edema markedly improved. The patient was discharged under hydrocortisone 15 mg/day administration without complications. The endocrine stress test performed 2 months postoperatively showed secondary hypoadrenocorticism, while the other endocrine functions had normalized. No recurrence had occurred by 30 months postoperatively; the medication of hydrocortisone was gradually discontinued and the patient at the time was still being followed as an outpatient with modified Rankin Scale score 0. Secondary hypothyroidism and secondary hypoadrenocorticism due to the pituitary tumor primarily caused the condition. It is important to consider PA in the differential diagnosis of dementia, and early diagnosis and treatment can contribute to a patient's good clinical outcome.
Abstract Purpose: In this retrospective study, we investigated the status and validity of endoscopic transsphenoidal surgery (eTSS) for pituitary incidentalomas (PIs) as well as the value of basing the indication for surgery on the PI guidelines. Methods: Patients who underwent eTSS at Fukuoka University Chikushi Hospital between 2012 and 2018 were divided into the PI group and the non-PI group in accordance with the PI guideline of the Endocrine Society and their clinicopathological characteristics and outcomes were compared and analyzed. Results: A total of 59 patients were enrolled, with 35 patients in the PI group and 24 patients in the non-PI group. The diagnoses in the PI group were of non-functioning pituitary adenoma (NFPA) (n = 12, 34%), gonadotropin-producing pituitary adenoma (n = 8, 23%), Rathke cleft cyst (n = 7, 20%), meningioma (n = 4, 11%), and growth hormone-producing pituitary adenoma (n = 3, 9%); those in the non-PI group were of NFPA (n = 6, 25%), gonadotropin-producing pituitary adenoma (n = 3, 13%), Rathke cleft cyst (n = 3, 13%), growth hormone-producing pituitary adenoma (n = 3, 13%), and prolactin producing pituitary adenoma (n = 3, 13%). Regarding the preoperative factors, 1 patient in the PI group with panhypopituitarism was diagnosed with pituitary apoplexy (pure infarction) of an NFPA. The rates of postoperative anterior pituitary hormonal deficiencies (14% vs 46%, P = .015), residual tumor size (2 ± 5 vs 6 ± 7 mm, P = .008), and reoperation (n = 0, 0% vs n = 5, 21%, P = .005) were significantly different between the PI and non-PI groups. Conclusions: This study showed that, postoperatively, the incidence of anterior pituitary hormonal deficiencies was lower in the PI than in the non-PI group, although it was comparable between the 2 groups before the operation. The patients in the PI group also had smaller residual tumors and a lower risk of reoperation than those in non-PI group. PIs could have a better postoperative clinical outcome than non-PIs when the indication for eTSS is based on preoperative scrutiny according to the PI guidelines and eTSS is performed by an experienced pituitary surgeon. Hence, more aggressive scrutiny and treatment for PIs might be desirable.
Objective: In this report, we discuss the cases of two patients with a ruptured blood blister-like aneurysm (BBA) of the basilar trunk, who we treated with overlapping stent-assisted coil embolization (SACE).Case Presentations: Case 1: The first patient was a 52-year-old male with a World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies (WFNS) Grade IV subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH).A 2 mm anterior wall BBA of the basilar artery (BA) was detected on cerebral angiography on day 10 and treated with overlapping SACE.No recanalization was observed at 12 months after surgery.Case 2: The second patient was a 62-year-old female with WFNS Grade I SAH.A 1.7 mm posterior wall BBA of the BA was detected on cerebral angiography on day 5, which was treated with overlapping stents alone, but a residual aneurysm was noted on day 14, and SACE was additionally performed.Infarction of the perforating branch was noted after surgery, but the aneurysm was completely occluded on follow-up after 1 week.No recanalization was observed at 10 months after surgery. Conclusion:Although overlapping SACE may be effective for ruptured BBAs of the basilar trunk, attention should be paid to the damage of the perforating branch after surgery in cases of aneurysm of the posterior wall of the BA.For appropriate multiple overlapping stents, accumulation of cases and further investigations are necessary.Keywords▶ basilar trunk, ruptured blood blister-like aneurysms, overlapping stent-assisted coil embolization, low-profile visualized intraluminal support, barrel technique Case PresentationsCase 1: The first patient was a 52-year-old male.
The clinical effects of two different types of antiplatelet drugs, cilostazol and thienopyridine drugs, were compared in patients treated by carotid artery stenting (CAS). Two hundred patients scheduled for CAS were randomized to either cilostazol or a thienopyridine drug (ticlopidine or clopidogrel). The study was conducted in open-label design. Aspirin was also given to all patients. All episodes of periprocedural hemodynamic instability (bradycardia, hypotension) were recorded together with all instances of stroke, cardiac morbidity, and death within 30 days of the procedure. Angiographic follow-up studies were conducted about 6 months after CAS. Finally, 197 patients were enrolled in this study; 97 were treated with cilostazol (cilostazol group) and 100 with a thienopyridine drug (thienopyridine group). In the 30-day follow-up period, the incidence of stroke, cardiac adverse effects, and death was not significantly different between the 2 groups (cilostazol group 7.2%, thienopyridine group 11.0%; p = 0.85). The incidence of intra- and postprocedural bradycardia was significantly lower in the cilostazol group (cilostazol group 18.6% and 2.1%, thienopyridine group 40.0% and 18.0%, respectively; p < 0.01). Although the incidence of intraprocedural hypotension did not significantly differ between the 2 groups, postprocedural hypotension was significantly lower in the cilostazol group (16.5% vs. 34.0%, p < 0.01). In-stent restenosis on follow-up angiograms was lower in the cilostazol group but not significantly (0% vs. 4.4%, p = 0.12). This small open-label study shows that cilostazol may reduce periprocedural bradycardia and hypotension compared with thienopyridine drugs in patients treated by CAS.
Primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL) is a rare malignant tumor of the central nervous system. It is associated with poor prognosis. Early diagnosis and subsequent planning of adequate treatment strategy are relevant to improve survival and reduce neurological deficit. Specifically, there are no reports of successful endoscopic biopsy for PCNSL of the corpus callosum in the splenium with bilateral visuomotor ataxia. An 74-year-old woman presented to our hospital with anorexia, depression and ataxia beginning six months earlier. Head computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging showed malignant tumor suspected in the corpus callosum. Endoscopic biopsy was performed via the low parieatal approach, suspecting GBM or PCNSL. She had no new postoperative neurological deficits and was pathologically diagnosed with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). She is currently undergoing radiation chemotherapy with a modified Rankin Scale score of 2. Regarding preoperative symptoms, ataxia was considered to be bilateral visuomotor ataxia caused by damage to the corpus callosum in the splenium, and anorexia and depression were considered symptoms of the surrounding limbic system. Delay in the diagnosis of PCNSL can lead to a poor prognosis. Visuomotor ataxia should also consider the potential for the corpus callosum in the splenium lesion, including PCNSL, and appropriate imaging and pathological diagnosis with endoscopic biopsy can contribute to a good clinical outcome.
Pituitary incidentaloma (PI) is a generic term for pituitary tumors that are identified on images acquired for non-malignant conditions. Acromegaly is an extremely rare form of PI. Occasionally, a functional pituitary adenoma (PA) may be misdiagnosed as PI, which may result in a poor clinical outcome. Here we report the first case, to the best of our knowledge, of PI diagnosed as trauma-triggered acromegaly. A 42-year-old man with a chief complaint of head trauma was referred to our hospital after computed tomography (CT) revealed a pituitary tumor. His appearance was suggestive of acromegaly. Mild hypertrophy of the extremities was also observed. Preoperative blood tests, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and endocrine tolerance test findings indicated acromegaly. Accordingly, we suspected a growth hormone (GH)-producing PA, and we performed endoscopic transsphenoidal surgery (eTSS). Histopathology showed a densely granulated GH-producing PA, which was also confirmed via immunohistochemistry. Two months after surgery, blood tests showed decreased levels of GH and insulin-like growth factor-1. In addition, a postoperative endocrine tolerance test revealed no abnormalities. There was no recurrence at 24 months after surgery. The findings from this case suggest that PIs can also present as functional adenomas, which can be diagnosed using initial hormone examinations and endocrine tolerance tests. Therefore, thorough endocrine examination is necessary for early diagnosis and treatment and improved patient outcomes.
