Publications by authors named "Cristina Alvarez Escola"

Background And Objective: Currently, the management for pituitary apoplexy (PA) has been promoted toward a more conservative approach, particularly for patients with low-grade PA scores. Our aim was to investigate trends in PA management and compare clinical presentation, therapeutic approaches, and outcomes before and after 2017, additionally to evaluate long-term outcomes in conservatively treated patients.

Methods: Spanish multicenter, retrospective study.

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  • This study assesses the outcomes of adrenalectomy for pheochromocytoma in obese versus nonobese patients, using data from 46 centers from 2012 to 2022.
  • It finds that while obesity does not significantly increase the rate of complications or comprehensive complication index (CCI), it does lead to a longer hospital stay for patients.
  • Furthermore, minimally invasive surgical techniques, like laparoscopic and robotic surgeries, are associated with less morbidity in obese patients, and a retroperitoneal approach may provide additional benefits.
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  • * A study involving 49 patients with pituitary apoplexy showed that while many experienced improvement in vision and eye movement after surgery, the timing of surgery (within 3 days vs. later) did not significantly affect these outcomes.
  • * Overall, the results indicate that the timing of neurosurgical decompression for pituitary apoplexy patients may not play a crucial role in improving their visual symptoms.
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  • MEN1-related pituitary adenomas (PAs) were traditionally thought to be more aggressive than regular pituitary adenomas, but recent research indicates that their behaviors may be similar.
  • A study evaluated long-term outcomes of MEN1 PAs using data from 84 cases, focusing on factors like patient demographics, tumor size, and treatment effectiveness.
  • The findings suggest that while MEN1 micro-PAs generally have a low risk of becoming invasive, microPRLomas have a higher risk, indicating that less frequent long-term monitoring may be suitable for patients with MEN1-related PAs.
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  • - The study analyzed 202 patients with head and neck paragangliomas (HN-PGL) across 16 Spanish hospitals, noting that 67.8% of participants were women, with a mean age of 53.1 years and 264 tumors examined, primarily located in the carotid body.
  • - Among patients, 20.8% had multiple tumors and 4% had metastatic disease; genetic testing revealed a pathogenic variant in SDHx in half of those tested, which was linked to younger patients and more complex tumor profiles.
  • - The results showed that while surgery was the most common treatment, radiotherapy and observation (monitoring without active treatment) were also effective, and long-term survival rates remained high
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Background: Pituitary apoplexy (PA) is the paradigm of endocrine and neurosurgical emergency.

Objective: To evaluate the comorbidities, risk factors, clinical presentation, pituitary apoplexy score (PAS) and the outcomes of surgical vs. conservative management of PA in Spain.

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Background And Objective: Robotic adrenalectomy (RA) has attracted interest as an alternative to laparoscopic adrenalectomy (LA) for patients with pheochromocytoma, although its beneficial effects are uncertain. Our aim was to compare RA and LA outcomes for these patients.

Methods: Data for patients who underwent RA or LA for pheochromocytoma in 46 international centers between 2012 and 2022 were reviewed.

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Pheochromocytomas and paragangliomas are rare neuroendocrine tumours. Around 20-25 % of patients develop metastases, for which there is an urgent need of prognostic markers and therapeutic stratification strategies. The presence of a MAML3-fusion is associated with increased metastatic risk, but neither the processes underlying disease progression, nor targetable vulnerabilities have been addressed.

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Context: Medical treatment of acromegaly is currently performed through a trial-and-error approach using first-generation somatostatin receptor ligands (fgSRLs) as first-line drugs, with an effectiveness of about 50%, and subsequent drugs are indicated through clinical judgment. Some biomarkers can predict fgSRLs response.

Objective: Here we report the results of the ACROFAST study, a clinical trial in which a protocol based on predictive biomarkers of fgSRLs was evaluated.

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Aim: To investigate the impact of pituitary surgery on glucose metabolism and to identify predictors of remission of diabetes after pituitary surgery in patients with acromegaly.

Methods: A national multicenter retrospective study of patients with acromegaly undergoing transsphenoidal surgery for the first time at 33 tertiary Spanish hospitals (ACRO-SPAIN study) was performed. Surgical remission of acromegaly was evaluated according to the 2000 and 2010 criteria.

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Purpose: To identify clinical and radiological factors associated with a higher risk of developing a severe pituitary apoplexy (PA).

Methods: Multicenter retrospective study of patients presenting with clinical PA in three Spanish tertiary hospitals of Madrid between 2008 and 2022. We classified PA as severe when presenting with an altered level of consciousness (Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) < 15) or visual involvement.

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Objective: The aim of this study is to compare the response to first-line medical treatment in treatment-naive acromegaly patients with pure growth hormone (GH)-secreting pituitary adenoma (GH-PA) and those with GH and prolactin cosecreting PA (GH&PRL-PA).

Design: This is a retrospective multicentric study of acromegaly patients followed from 2003 to 2023 in 33 tertiary Spanish hospitals with at least 6 months of first-line medical treatment.

Methods: Baseline characteristics, first-line medical treatment strategies, and outcomes were analyzed.

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The objective of the study was to evaluate the efficacy of second-line therapies in patients with acromegaly caused by a growth hormone (GH) and prolactin (PRL) co-secreting pituitary neuroendocrine tumor (GH&PRL-Pit-NET) compared to their efficacy in patients with acromegaly caused by a GH-secreting pituitary neuroendocrine tumor (GH-Pit-NET). This is a multicenter retrospective study of patients with acromegaly on treatment with pasireotide and/or pegvisomant. Patients were classified in two groups: GH&PRL-Pit-NETs when evidence of hyperprolactinemia and immunohistochemistry (IHC) for GH and PRL was positive or if PRL were >200 ng/dL regardless of the PRL-IHC and GH-Pit-NETs when the previously mentioned criteria were not met.

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Introduction: Growth hormone (GH)-secreting pituitary tumors (GHomas) are the most common acromegaly cause. At diagnosis, most of them are macroadenomas, and up to 56% display cavernous sinus invasion. Biomarker assessment associated with tumor growth and invasion is important to optimize their management.

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  • A study evaluated the differences in clinical presentation and surgical outcomes between two types of pituitary adenomas: growth hormone secreting (GH-PAs) and those that cosecrete growth hormone and prolactin (GH&PRL-PAs).
  • GH&PRL-PAs were found to occur more frequently as macroadenomas, had a lower average age at diagnosis, and were more likely to show signs of invasiveness and hypopituitarism compared to GH-PAs.
  • Despite these differences in presentation, both groups had similar rates of surgical success in terms of biochemical cure, although GH&PRL-PA patients experienced a higher incidence of permanent arginine-vasopressin deficiency
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Background And Objective: Nodal metastases in the central compartment are frequent in papillary thyroid cancer (PTC). However, they are mostly micrometastases with no impact on survival and their relevance on the risk of locoregional relapse is controversial. There is no consensus regarding optimal management of the central neck in patients with PTC cN0.

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Purpose: To evaluate the rate of recurrence among patients with pheochromocytomas and sympathetic paragangliomas (PGLs; together PPGLs) and to identify predictors of recurrence (local recurrence and/or metastatic disease).

Methods: This retrospective multicenter study included information of 303 patients with PPGLs in follow-up in 19 Spanish tertiary hospitals. Recurrent disease was defined by the development of local recurrence and/or metastatic disease after initial complete surgical resection.

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  • A short version of the acute octreotide test (sAOT) was re-evaluated to predict responses to somatostatin receptor ligands (SRLs) in acromegaly patients, utilizing ultra-sensitive growth hormone (GH) assays.
  • In a study of 47 patients, the results showed that 30 were responders and 17 were non-responders, with specific GH levels serving as predictive cutoffs for treatment responses.
  • The study found that patients with E-cadherin-positive tumors had lower GH levels and higher somatostatin receptor 2 (SSTR2) scores, indicating that sAOT can aid in clinical treatment decisions based on tumor characteristics.
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Purpose: To identify presurgical and surgical risk factors for intraoperative hypertensive crisis in patients with pheochromocytomas and sympathetic paragangliomas (PGLs) (PPGLs).

Methods: Retrospective multicenter cohort study of patients with PPGLs from 18 tertiary hospitals. Intraoperative hypertensive crisis was defined as systolic blood pressure (SBP) greater than 200 mmHg lasting more than 1 min and postoperative hypertensive crisis as SBP greater than 180 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure (DBP) greater than 110 mmHg.

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Purpose: to perform an external validation of our predictive model to rule out pheochromocytoma (PHEO) based on unenhanced CT in a cohort of patients with PHEOs and adenomas who underwent adrenalectomy.

Methods: The predictive model was previously developed in a retrospective cohort of 1131 patients presenting with adrenal lesions. In the present study, we performed an external validation of the model in another cohort of 214 patients with available histopathological results.

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Objective: Acromegaly is a rare disease caused by increased growth hormone secretion and a subsequent increase in insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) levels. Patients display multiple comorbidities that affect their quality of life (QoL). Treatment aims to maintain good biochemical control, tumour control and reduce the risk of comorbidities; however, their impact on QoL has been overlooked until recently.

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Objectives: Bilateral inferior petrosal sinus sampling (BIPSS) is a useful test for differential diagnosis of central vs. ectopic adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)-dependent Cushing's syndrome (CS). We provide a description of the protocol used in our Center and an analysis of its diagnostic accuracy.

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Purpose: To compare the clinical, hormonal, and radiological presentation and surgical outcomes of patients with macroadenomas presenting with pituitary apoplexy and patients not presenting pituitary apoplexy.

Methods: Multicentre retrospective study of patients presenting with macroadenomas and pituitary apoplexy in three Spanish tertiary hospitals between 2008 and 2022. We selected as control group (non-pituitary apoplexy), patients with pituitary macroadenomas without apoplexy who underwent pituitary surgery between 2008 and 2020.

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Context: There are no data on mortality of acromegaly diagnosed in older individuals.

Objective: This work aimed to compare clinical characteristics, growth hormone-related comorbidities, therapeutic approaches, and mortality rate of patients diagnosed before or after 2010 and to assess overall mortality rate compared with the general Spanish population.

Methods: A retrospective evaluation was conducted among Spanish tertiary care centers of 118 patients diagnosed with acromegaly at age 65 or older.

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