Health-related Quality of Life in Acromegaly Patients: Results from Generic and Disease-specific Questionnaires.

Introduction: Acromegaly is associated with high morbidity, but still controversial impact on the overall quality of life (QoL).

Material And Methods: We evaluated QoL using a generic (SF-36) and a disease-specific questionnaire (AcroQoL) in an acromegalic cohort.

Results: Sixty-nine patients answered the questionnaires and had their records reviewed.

DNA repair and cell synthesis proteins: immunohistochemical expression and correlation with recurrence-regrowth in meningiomas.

Meningiomas are considered the second most common neoplasm of the central nervous system in adults. Most of them are benign with slow growth, frequent in women and with a high recurrence rate. In tumors, DNA error repair processes lose efficacy, providing mutagenesis and genomic instability.

Assessment of Anthropometric and Physical Health Indicators before and after Pituitary Surgery in Patients with Nonfunctioning Pituitary Adenomas, Acromegaly, and Cushing Disease.

Introduction: Individuals with pituitary adenomas may have organic consequences of their disease or therapy, and psychological changes can compromise their quality of life (QoL). This study aimed to determine the anthropometric profile and health indicators of patients with pituitary adenoma before and after pituitary surgery.

Methods: Forty-four patients were included in this study.

The acromegalic spine: fractures, deformities and spinopelvic balance.

Introduction: Axial skeleton arthropathy and osteoporotic vertebral fractures are common findings in acromegalic patients and can result in severe spinal deformity.

Objective: To investigate the presence of spinal fractures and deformities, sagittal imbalances, and spinopelvic compensatory mechanisms in acromegalics.

Patients And Methods: 58 patients with acromegaly from a referral neuroendocrinology center were prospectively evaluated by panoramic spine radiographs to detect the presence of fractures and scoliosis, to measure thoracic kyphosis, lumbar lordosis (LL), pelvic incidence (PI), pelvic tilt (PT) and sagittal vertical axis (SVA).

Impact of surgery on pain, disability, and quality of life of patients with degenerative lumbar disease: Brazilian data.

Objective: To study the impact of surgery on pain, disability, quality of life, and patient satisfaction in a sample of patients with Degenerative Lumbar Disease (DLD).

Methods: Retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data. Comparison between pre and postoperative (6 - 12 months) ODI and SF-36, plus postoperative Patient Satisfaction Index.

PTTG overexpression in non-functioning pituitary adenomas: Correlation with invasiveness, female gender and younger age.

Background: Non-functioning pituitary adenomas (NFPA) are prevalent pituitary neoplasms. Because they do not present with hormonal hypersecretion, there is no marker that indicates regrowth or recurrence, as in other adenomas.

Objectives: Evaluate the immunohistochemical expression of PTTG, CD105 and Ki-67 and their relationships with age, gender, invasiveness, hormonal expression and regrowth or recurrence in the follow-up of NFPA operated and not submitted to radiotherapy.

Gene and protein expression of E-cadherin and NCAM markers in non-functioning pituitary adenomas.

Non-functioning pituitary adenomas (NFPA) are classified as benign tumors of slow growth, but 40% of them present local invasion, a characteristic of behavior still unpredictable with the use of current tumor markers. This work aims to evaluate the tissue markers E-cadherin and NCAM, which act on cell adhesion, in tumor tissue samples of NFPA and its relationship with the degree of local invasiveness. Gene expression of E-cadherin (CDH1) and NCAM (NCAM1) was assessed by real-time PCR and tissue expression by immunohistochemistry.

Cervicothoracic Lordosis Can Influence Outcome After Posterior Cervical Spine Surgery.

Background: Previous studies on the correlation between cervical sagittal balance with improvement in quality of life showed significant results only for parameters of the anterior translation of the cervical spine (such as C2-C7 SVA).

Objective: We test whether a new parameter, , can predict clinical success in this type of surgery.

Methods: The focused group involved patients who underwent surgical treatment of cervical degenerative disk disease by the posterior approach, due to myelopathy, radiculopathy or a combination of both.

Pre-clinical evaluation of voltage-gated calcium channel blockers derived from the spider P. nigriventer in glioma progression.

This study investigated the effects of P/Q- and N-type voltage-gated calcium channel (VGCC) blockers derived from P. nigriventer in glioma progression, by means of in vitro and in vivo experiments. Glioma cells M059J, U-138MG and U-251MG were used to evaluate the antiproliferative effects of P/Q- and N-type VGCC inhibitors PhTx3-3 and Phα1β from P.

Decreased TAp63 and ΔNp63 mRNA Levels in Most Human Pituitary Adenomas Are Correlated with Notch3/Jagged1 Relative Expression.

Despite recent advances in molecular genetics, the pituitary adenoma initiation, development, progress, and the molecular basis of their unique features are still poorly understood. In this sense, it is proposed that stem cell could be involved in pituitary adenoma tumorigenesis. It is suggested that TP63 has important functions in stem cells, and it may have interplay of TP63 and Notch and its ligand Jagged in this process.

Primary Role for Kinin B and B Receptors in Glioma Proliferation.

This study investigated the role of kinins and their receptors in malignant brain tumors. As a first approach, GL-261 glioma cells were injected (2 × 10 cells in 2 μl/2 min) into the right striatum of adult C57/BL6 wild-type, kinin B and B receptor knockout (KOBR and KOBR) and B and B receptor double knockout mice (KOBBR). The animals received the selective BR (SSR240612) and/or BR (HOE-140) antagonists by intracerebroventricular (i.

A simple scoring system for predicting early major complications in spine surgery: the cumulative effect of age and size of surgery.

Objective: To analyze the cumulative effect of risk factors associated with early major complications in postoperative spine surgery.

Methods: Retrospective analysis of 583 surgically-treated patients. Early "major" complications were defined as those that may lead to permanent detrimental effects or require further significant intervention.

Expression of somatostatin receptors (SSTR1-SSTR5) in meningiomas and its clinicopathological significance.

Meningiomas are benign brain tumors that are usually to recur. Studies have shown in vitro and in vivo that meningiomas, regardless of histology and classification, express somatostatin receptors (SSTRs). We investigated the immunohistochemical expression of five SSTR subtypes (SSTR1-SSTR5) in tumor tissue sections from 60 patients with diagnosis of meningioma who underwent surgical resection and relating it to patient age and sex, tumor histology, location, regrowth/recurrence and follow-up.

Cerebrum-cervical arterial dissection in adults during sports and recreation.

Unlabelled: Dissection of cervical arteries constitutes a medical emergency. Although relatively rarely, activities classified as sports and recreation may be a cause of arterial dissection independently of neck or head trauma. The purpose of the present paper was to present a series of cases of cerebrum-cervical arterial dissection in individuals during or soon after the practice of these sports activities.

Autologous cranial bone graft use for trepanation reconstruction.

Background: Esthetic deformities in the human skull are a subject of concern among neurosurgical patients and neurosurgeons; they can be disfiguring and harm the patient's social relationships. To access inner structures, neurosurgical operations require skull trepanation, a process that frequently involves loss of bone tissue and leads to esthetic problems. Satisfactory reconstruction is a challenge, and neurosurgeons search for an implant which ideally is organic and low cost and does not cause an immunological or allergic reaction.

Aromatase P450 expression in human pituitary adenomas.

Estrogen has been shown to play an important role in pituitary tumor pathogenesis. In humans, this biosynthesis is mediated by aromatase, an enzyme that converts androgens to estrogens. Just a few studies about aromatase expression in human pituitary gland, both in normal and pathological ones, are found in the literature.

Perianeurysmal edema as a predictive sign of aneurysmal rupture.

Subarachnoid hemorrhage following intracranial aneurysmal rupture is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Several factors may affect the probability of rupture, such as tobacco and alcohol use; size, shape, and location of the aneurysm; presence of intraluminal thrombus; and even the sex of the patient. However, few data correlate such findings with the timing of aneurysmal rupture.

Evaluation of Cushing's disease remission after transsphenoidal surgery based on early serum cortisol dynamics.

Objective: To evaluate the ability of post-transsphenoidal pituitary surgery (TSS) serum cortisol levels (s-cortisol) to predict surgical remission and recurrence of Cushing's disease (CD).

Design: One hundred and three patients with CD from a tertiary referral centre were prospectively analysed over 6·0 ± 4·8 years of follow-up. Twenty patients received perioperative glucocorticoids as routine care and had s-cortisol measured 10-12 days after TSS (Protocol I).

Prolactin gene expression in primary central nervous system tumors.

Background: Prolactin (PRL) is a hormone synthesized in both the pituitary gland and extrapituitary sites. It has been associated with the occurrence of neoplasms and, more recently, with central nervous system (CNS) neoplasms. The aim of this study was to evaluate prolactin expression in primary central nervous system tumors through quantitative real-time PCR and immunohistochemistry (IH).

Quantitative computed tomography and cranial burr holes: a model to evaluate the quality of cranial reconstruction in humans.

Current methods to evaluate the biologic development of bone grafts in human beings do not quantify results accurately. Cranial burr holes are standardized critical bone defects, and the differences between bone powder and bone grafts have been determined in numerous experimental studies. This study evaluated quantitative computed tomography (QCT) as a method to objectively measure cranial bone density after cranial reconstruction with autografts.

Expression of cell growth negative regulators MEG3 and GADD45γ is lost in most sporadic human pituitary adenomas.

We aimed at the evaluation of MEG3 and GADD45γ expression in sporadic functioning and clinically non-functioning human pituitary adenomas, morphologically characterized by immunohistochemistry analysis and their association with clinical features. Thirty eight patients who had undergone hypophysectomy at São José Hospital of Irmandade Santa Casa de Misericórdia in Porto Alegre, Brazil, were included in this study. We evaluated tumor-type specific MEG3 and GADD45γ expression by qRT-PCR in the pituitary adenomas, and its association with clinical features, as age, gender and tumor size, obtained from medical records.

Pseudotumor cerebri during Cushing's disease treatment with ketoconazole.

Benign intracranial hypertension (Pseudotumor cerebri) has been described as related to the reduction in steroid levels in Cushing's disease (CD), especially after surgical remission. Ketoconazole is a common and effective adjuvant therapy for hypercortisolism, but the major concern is liver enzyme dysfunction. We describe here the case of a 12-year old girl with CD who developed benign intracranial hypertension during treatment with ketoconazole.

Comparative study between cortical bone graft versus bone dust for reconstruction of cranial burr holes.

Background: As a consequence of the progressive evolution of neurosurgical techniques, there has been increasing concern with the esthetic aspects of burr holes. Therefore, the objective of this study was to compare the use of cortical bone graft and bone dust for correcting cranial deformities caused by neurosurgical trephines.

Methods: Twenty-three patients were enrolled for cranial burr hole reconstruction with a 1-year follow-up.

Determination of cell proliferation using Mcm2 antigen and evaluation of apoptosis and TGF-beta1 expression in GH-secreting or clinically nonfunctioning pituitary adenomas.

Pituitary adenomas (PA) occasionally show aggressive behavior, with invasion of the surrounding tissues. The identification of markers able to recognize aggressive PA in early stages remains a challenge. We aimed to determine the expression of a new cell proliferation marker, Mcm2, and the presence of apoptosis in PA, and to evaluate the association of clinicopathological features with the apoptotic and proliferative indices.