[Prognostic value of granular pattern of growth hormone secreting tumors].

Background: Classification of growth hormone (GH) - secreting tumors by the granular pattern might predict their clinical behavior in acromegalic patients. There are several other prognostic factors.

Aim: To compare the features at presentation and cure rates of patients with GH secreting tumors according to the granular pattern, and to define independent prognostic factors for surgical treatment in these patients.

Usefulness and Pitfalls in Sodium Intake Estimation: Comparison of Dietary Assessment and Urinary Excretion in Chilean Children and Adults.

Background: High sodium intake has been associated with various noncommunicable disease like hypertension, cardiovascular disease, or stroke. To estimate accurately sodium intake is challenging in clinical practice. We investigate the usefulness and limitations of assessing sodium intake simultaneously by dietary assessment and urinary samples in both children and adults.

[Selective use of glucocorticoids during the perioperative period of transsphenoidal surgery for pituitary tumors].

Background: There is consensus in promoting the selective use of glucocorticoids (GC) in the peri-operative period of transsphenoidal surgery (TE) for pituitary adenomas (PA).

Aim: To evaluate the safety of a selective glucocorticoid administration protocol and the usefulness of immediate postoperative cortisol levels as a predictor of final eucortisolism.

Patients And Methods: Clinical and biochemical data from 40 patients aged 27 to 78 years (65% males) were prospectively collected.

Aggressive tumors and difficult choices in acromegaly.

Purpose: The current article looks at some of the factors associated with pituitary adenomas displaying unusually aggressive biological and clinical behaviour in patients with acromegaly.

Methods: This was a retrospective, narrative review of previously published evidence chosen at the authors' discretion and presented from the perspective of a Latin American case study.

Findings And Conclusions: Although most pituitary tumors in acromegalic patients are benign and non-aggressive many can behave more aggressively, compromising local surrounding structures.

The role of primary pharmacological therapy in acromegaly.

Background And Objectives: Primary pharmacological therapy may be the only viable treatment option for many patients with acromegaly, especially those presenting with advanced disease with large inoperable tumors. Long-acting somatostatin analogs are currently the first-line treatment of choice in this setting, where they provide biochemical control and reduce tumor size in a significant proportion of patients. We herein present a brief overview of the role of primary pharmacological therapy in the treatment of acromegaly within the context of Latin America and support this with a representative case study.

Primary pituitary lymphoma in immunocompetent patient: diagnostic problems and prolonged follow-up.

Primary pituitary lymphoma in immunocompetent patients is a rare disease and has been described in less than 20 cases. Moreover, low-grade lymphomas constitute only 3% of all primary central nervous system lymphoma. The objective of this report is to report a low-grade primary pituitary lymphoma, diagnostic problems and to give more evidence about the evolution of this rare disease.

Midnight salivary cortisol determination for assessing the outcome of transsphenoidal surgery in Cushing's disease.

Context: Midnight salivary cortisol (MSC) is now recognized as a reliable index for Cushing's syndrome diagnosis but has to be validated for the follow-up of treated patients.

Objective: Our objective was to evaluate MSC for assessing the outcome of transsphenoidal surgery (TSS) in patients with Cushing's disease (CD).

Design: We conducted a retrospective cohort study in a single center.

Melanotic nonpsammomatous trigeminal schwannoma as the first manifestation of Carney complex: case report.

Objective: Melanotic schwannoma is a rare neoplasm, classifiable as a peripheral nerve sheath tumor, and differentiated from a typical schwannoma by heavy pigmentation. Psammoma bodies can be visualized in more than 50% of melanotic schwannomas. Half of patients with such "psammomatous melanotic schwannomas" have Carney complex, a dominantly transmitted autosomal disorder.

Novel intronic mutation of MEN1 gene causing familial isolated primary hyperparathyroidism.

Primary hyperparathyroidism may occur as part of hereditary syndromes, including multiple endocrine neoplasia types 1 and 2A (MEN1 and MEN2A), hyperparathyroidism-jaw tumor syndrome, and the familial isolated hyperparathyroidism (FIHP). It is unclear whether FIHP corresponds to a different genetic entity or a variant of MEN1 (or hyperparathyroidism-jaw tumor syndrome). We report a patient and 11 family members with FIHP in whom we identified a heterozygous G-to-A mutation at nucleotide 7361 of tumor suppressor MEN1 gene.