PubMed HealthSearch

Biomedical subjects

S Iorcansky

Publications and source records attributed to S Iorcansky.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

Endocrine disorders in 66 suprasellar and pineal tumors of patients with prepubertal and pubertal ages.

Tumor oncotypes, initial symptoms and endocrine disturbances before and/or 1 month after surgery were studied in 66 patients with prepubertal and pubertal ages having suprasellar or pineal intracranial tumors. Neoplasms found in patients of prepubertal age were: 15 craniopharyngiomas (CRA), 24 neuroepithelial-cell-derived tumors (NEC), 5 germ cell tumors (GERM) and 4 other lesions (OTHER). In patients of pubertal age, there were 7 CRA, 7 pituitary tumors (PIT), 2 NEC, 1 GERM and 1 OTHER. Approximately 90% of patients had visual abnormalities as one of the initial signs and symptoms, while 59% had increased intracranial pressure. Short stature was observed in only 10% of patients. Before surgery, somatotropic function was found to be deficient (by 2 pharmacological tests) in 90-100% of patients with CRA, PIT or GERM and in 40% of patients with NEC. Overt hypothyroidism was found in 5-25% of CRA, NEC or GERM but in 40% of PIT. Abnormal TSH responses to TRH were observed in 64% of CRA and in 29% of NEC. Low basal serum cortisol was found in 21 or 6% of patients with CRA or NEC, but in 100 or 60% of patients with PIT or GERM, respectively. Diabetes insipidus was diagnosed in 13.6% of all patients. Surgery produced few additional disturbances in endocrine function, except for the incidence of diabetes insipidus which was doubled. Gonadotropic deficiency was found in most patients of pubertal age with CRA and PIT. They were readily differentiated by the high prolactin or growth hormone (GH) levels of the latter.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adolescent

Thyroid dysfunction in Hodgkin's disease.

Radiotherapy to the neck and/or polychemotherapy late effects on the thyroid were investigated in 51 patients (34 males and 17 females) with Hodgkin's disease. Except for two untreated, recently diagnosed patients, all were studied after 1 to 105 months (median, 27.5 months) of completion of polychemotherapy. Age ranged from 6.2 to 36.6 years (median, 13.6 years). Patients were divided according to treatment into four groups: (A) patients treated with CVPP (cyclophosphamide, vinblastine, procarbazine, and prednisone); (B) 22 patients treated with CVPP plus radiotherapy (median radiation dose to the thyroid, 3000 cGy); (C) seven patients with ACOP/BVP (adriamycin, cyclophosphamide, vincristine, prednisone, bleomycin, vinblastine, procarbazine); and (D) seven patients treated with different polychemotherapy protocols, four of whom also received radiotherapy. Elevated basal and/or post-TRH, -TSH levels were found in the following: Group A: two of 12 patients (17%); Group B: 11 of 22 (50%); Group C: four of seven (57%); and Group D: two of seven (28%). Positive antimicrosomal thyroid antibody titers (AM Ab) were found in the following: Group A: three of 12 patients (25%); Group B: six of 21 (28%), Group C: two of seven (28%); and Group D: one of six (17%). Of 46 patients studied, 12 (26%) had positive AM Ab; 37 of 46 patients were younger than 20 years of age, 11 (30%) of whom had positive AM Ab versus 4% in the normal population (P less than 0.001). Two recently diagnosed, untreated patients had either high TSH response to TRH or positive AM Ab. In conclusion, higher frequency of thyroid dysfunction was observed in patients receiving radiotherapy (50% versus 27%). Prevalence of positive AM Ab, apparently unrelated to therapy, was higher in young patients than in the normal population. A predisposition to autoimmune thyroid disease seems to be present in these patients, but it is not possible to discern how lymphoma and thyroiditis are interrelated.

Adolescent

Long-term endocrine sequelae after surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy in children with medulloblastoma.

Thirteen children with medulloblastoma, were studied after 2 to 62 months off radiotherapy and chemotherapy with methotrexate and BCNU. Ages at time of study ranged from 2.3 to 15.7 years. Eleven patients, followed for a mean of 22 months, showed a significant decrease of height score, whereas nine patients had deficient growth hormone (GH) response to provocative tests. Clinical pubertal progression was normal in all patients, and three of five girls with advanced pubertal development had menarche. No evidences of gonadotropin disturbances were found in five patients whereas seven had raised basal follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) level or FSH response to luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LH-RH). Abnormalities in thyrotrophin (TSH) secretion were found in 9 of 13 patients. This study shows that poor growth and GH deficiency were frequent in our patients. The high frequency of thyroid disturbances observed point out the need of evaluating thyroid function for adequate replacement therapy. Perhaps modification of adjuvant chemotherapy in the future can diminish drug-induced gonadal damage.

Adolescent