Radiation therapy for childhood-onset craniopharyngioma: systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Craniopharyngioma (CP), a benign tumor originating from remnants of Rathke's pouch in the sellar region, accounts for approximately 30% of all cases of craniopharyngioma. Radiation therapy has been used to treat CP patients for decades; however, there is still a lack of systematic reviews on the long-term tumor control outcomes in pediatric CP patients treated with external radiation therapy.

Methods: We conducted a comprehensive search of multiple databases for studies on the tumor progression rates of childhood-onset CP(COCP) patients who received external radiotherapy.

Clinical profile of fatal familial insomnia: phenotypic variation in 129 polymorphisms and geographical regions.

Objective: Elucidate the core clinical and genetic characteristics and identify the phenotypic variation between different regions and genotypes of fatal familial insomnia (FFI).

Methods: A worldwide large sample of FFI patients from our case series and literature review diagnosed by genetic testing were collected. The prevalence of clinical symptoms and genetic profile were obtained, and then the phenotypic comparison between Asians versus non-Asians and 129Met/Met versus 129Met/Val were conducted.