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Biomedical subjects

W Bonicki

Publications and source records attributed to W Bonicki.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Nelson's syndrome -- 46 years later: clinical experience with 37 patients.

OBJECTIVE: Pituitary tumours occurring after bilateral adrenalectomy for Cushing's disease (Nelson's syndrome) are frequently aggressive, so an early diagnosis and careful management are of prime importance. For a new insight into this entity it is necessary to analyse the factors predisposing to its development and the course of the disease, as well as the methods of diagnosis and modalities of treatment. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Thirty-seven patients with Nelson's syndrome were observed, 32 women and 5 men, aged 16 to 61 years at the time of pituitary tumour detection (at present, 27 to 82 years old). The diagnostic methods included clinical observation, imaging examinations (X-ray studies, CT, MRI), hormonal evaluation (especially ACTH and cortisol levels during replacement therapy) and ophthalmologic investigations. Neurosurgery was the main method of treatment. RESULTS: The clinical analysis indicated that young age at the time of adrenalectomy, pregnancy, insufficient replacement therapy and fulminant course of Cushing's disease were the main factors predisposing to Nelson's syndrome. MRI appeared to be the most valuable imaging method, as this detected Nelson's tumours in the microadenoma stage in 7 patients. Plasma ACTH levels varied between 32.6 pmol/l in an early phase to 2 000 pmol/l in the full-blown syndrome. Absolute temporal scotomas found in ophthalmologic examinations were an early abnormality. The best results after therapy were obtained in patients treated by neurosurgery using a transsphenoidal approach in an early stage. CONCLUSIONS: MRI, ophthalmologic examination and plasma ACTH determination were the most valuable investigations for early diagnosis of Nelson's syndrome. Early neurosurgery offered the best outcome in our group of patients.

Adolescent↗

[The value of structural neuroimaging in the selection of patients for epileptic surgery].

UNLABELLED: The aim of this study was to investigate the value of structural neuroimaging with MRI in the selection of patients for epilepsy surgery. We sought to determine whether MRI influenced decision concerning resective surgery and whether MRI provided much more useful information than enhanced CT. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Neuroimaging studies, MRI and CT, of 300 patients; 265 with partial and 35 with primary generalized seizures, evaluated for surgical treatment of epilepsy were analysed. The MRIs and CTs were interpreted using visual diagnostic criteria and findings were correlated with the EEG changes and clinical semiology. RESULTS: MRIs identified structural lesions in 142, CTs in 96 of all patients. The clinical semiology (partial seizures), MRI, CT and EEG focal findings were concordant in 72 cases. The group of 34 patients had resective surgery. The 7 patients were also operated with MRI and CT focal abnormalities discordant with EEG changes. Also one patient with primary generalized epilepsy and temporal lobe lesion (glioma) had resective surgery. MRI studies revealed structural lesions in 48 patients with normal CT studies. The 43 patients with partial epilepsy had normal CTs and lesions in MRIs; the 34 cases revealed correlation with the EEG findings in 29 temporal and 5 extratemporal regions. Surgery were performed in 23 cases. Also one with partial seizures and MRI detected hippocampal atrophy was operated, despite of generalized EEG patterns. In contrast CT revealed two patients with normal MRI and focal changes. The patients with partial seizures and only CT abnormalities (focal calcifications) were not operated due to discordant EEG findings. In group of 132 patients with normal neuroimaging studies and EEG identified seizure focus only 27 had anterior temporal lobectomy. CONCLUSION: MRI studies gave additional information in case of 16% patients with intractable epilepsy in comparison with CT findings. Resective epilepsy surgery was almost twice as often performed when MRIs revealed structural abnormality. In operated patients, diagnostic sensitivity of structural MRI, CT and EEG to neurophatology were 70.6%, 46.7 and 92.4% respectively.

Adolescent↗

MRI versus CT in the diagnosis of Nelson's syndrome.

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the utility of MRI and CT in the diagnosis of Nelson's syndrome, i. e. pituitary tumours in patients bilaterally adrenalectomized for Cushing's disease. Thirteen patients, followed up for 5-29 years after adrenalectomy, were studied. In 6 of them CT and MRI revealed no changes in the pituitary gland. In the remaining 7 patients only three CT scans were suggestive of a pituitary adenoma. MRI studies with administration of gadodiamide confirmed the CT diagnosis of Nelson's tumour in 3 patients and disclosed microadenomas in a further 4 patients. Neurosurgical treatment in 4 patients confirmed the MRI findings. Additionally CT and MRI examinations were performed in 5 patients suspected of a recurrent Nelson's tumour 3-11 years after neurosurgery. MRI visualized recurrent adenomas in 3 patients that were not well seen by CT scans. In our experience MRI was more effective than CT in the diagnosis of Nelson's syndrome.

Adrenalectomy↗

Early diagnosis of Nelson's syndrome.

Nelson's syndrome is a specific form of Cushing's disease treated by bilateral adrenalectomy, presenting with a deep hyperpigmentation caused by a pituitary adenoma (corticotropinoma). These ACTH-secreting tumors are frequently aggressive, so early diagnosis is of prime importance. We have studied 33 patients with Nelson's syndrome, 28 women and 5 men, aged 14-56 yr at the time of adrenalectomy and 16-58 yr at the time of Nelson's syndrome diagnosis (observed for 5-32 yr). Methods of examination included simultaneous adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and cortisol measurements during routine hydrocortisone replacement therapy, computed tomography (CT), pituitary magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and visual field examination. The results obtained in a group of six patients diagnosed in the last 3 yr were compared with those obtained in a group of 27 patients examined before 1992. High plasma ACTH levels accompanied by normal serum cortisol concentration were characteristic for a late stage of the disease. Absolute temporal scotomas were an early finding. MRI, especially with the gadolinium enhancement, was superior to CT in demonstrating pituitary microadenomas in Nelson's syndrome. Thus, MRI diagnosis allowed for an early neurosurgical treatment of the patients with Nelson's tumors.

Adenoma↗

[Relationship between fasting glycemia, serum peptide C, insulin, growth hormone and plasma glucagon in acromegaly].

UNLABELLED: The aim of this study was to investigate interrelations among fasting glycaemia, serum C-peptide, insulin, growth hormone and plasma glucagon concentration in people with acromegaly. 22 patients with active acromegaly, 11 women and 11 men (group A) and 19 healthy people (group K) participated in the study. The oral glucose tolerance test was carried out in all participants. Blood glucose, serum C-peptide, growth hormone and plasma glucagon concentration was measured. 13 patients with acromegaly had normal glucose tolerance (group AT) and 9 had impaired glucose tolerance (group AN). Statistical analysis was performed using Student's test and regression analysis. The comparison of patients from group A and K showed, that serum growth hormone, C-peptide, insulin, blood glucose concentration in fasting state was higher in acromegaly. There were no differences in fasting plasma glucagon concentration between both groups. Fasting glycaemia was similar in patients AT and controls, but there were also higher fasting serum C-peptide and insulin concentrations in the AT group. Fasting blood glucose, serum C-peptide and insulin concentration was higher in AN group than in controls. There were no significant differences in the above parameters between AT and AN group. Analysis of regression showed the negative correlation of fasting serum growth hormone and blood glucose concentration in the group A and AT. However there was no correlation between other parameters and fasting glycaemia, in particular between fasting glycaemia and insulin concentration. Fasting glycaemia positively correlated with fasting serum insulin concentration in healthy men. The comparison of glycaemia and fasting concentration of some hormones in patients with acromegaly regarding their glucose tolerance, did not answer the question, which hormonal abnormality is the most specific for disturbances of carbohydrate metabolism in acromegaly. Therefore groups of patients with markedly high of hormones in fasting state concentrations were distinguished. There was no difference in fasting glycaemia in this people compared to patients with normal or moderately elevated concentrations of hormones studied. CONCLUSIONS: There is higher fasting glycaemia in patients with acromegaly compared to healthy men. Among them one can see subjects with normal glucose tolerance that is accompanied with high serum C-peptide and insulin concentration. Disturbances of glucose-insulin interregulation occur in these people.

Acromegaly↗

[Diagnosis and treatment of Cushing's disease].

Authors present the results of surgical treatment of 63 patients with Cushing's disease. They evaluate various diagnostic procedures, applied to define the aetiology of endogenous hypercortisol. The petrosal sinus sampling for ACTH level is described. In the series in only 32% of patients; radiological examinations (including CT and MRI) showed the pituitary adenoma. Among 63 operated persons--43 were subjected to surgery based on endocrinological data alone. All the patients were operated by transsphenoidal route. Good result--endocrinological recovery in the treatment of Cushing's disease was achieved in 80% of patients.

Adolescent↗

Pituitary apoplexy: endocrine, surgical and oncological emergency. Incidence, clinical course and treatment with reference to 799 cases of pituitary adenomas.

Authors analyzed retrospectively the incidence of pituitary apoplexy in a series of 799 pituitary adenomas with respect to the long term follow-up of the patients. Focal vascular abnormalities in histological specimens of tumours, regarded as morphological suggestion of past apoplexy (haemorrhage, ischaemic infarction or necrosis), were established in 113 out of 783 surgical cases (14.4%). Acute clinical onset, justifying the clinical diagnosis of pituitary apoplexy, occurred in 39 patients only (5% of the whole series), 19 of them were subjected to urgent surgical decompression due to severe neurological deficit. The haemorrhagic character of apoplexy was established in most cases requiring immediate surgery. The detailed clinical picture of this condition and its management are discussed with respect to the long term prognosis. On this basis the authors suggest the necessity of surgical treatment in every case of pituitary apoplexy, taking into account not only neurological recovery, but also endocrine and oncological aspects of the disease. The observation that pituitary apoplexy may be a "marker" of tumour invasiveness (even in small, "enclosed" adenomas) is highlighted.

Adenoma↗

[Evaluation of a method for determining ACTH concentration in samples of serum obtained by catheterization of inferior petrosal sinuses in diagnosis of Cushing's disease].

A method consisting in the catheterization of lower petrosal sinuses aimed at obtaining blood samples for the determination of ACTH concentration has been applied in diagnostically difficult cases of Cushing's disease. The appearance of ACTH concentration gradient between the blood originating from the immediate vicinity of pituitary and the peripheral venous blood confirmed the hypophyseal etiology of hypercortisolemia. The gradient of ACTH concentration between the two petrosal sinuses made possible the localization of a microadenoma in the anterior lobe of pituitary. The diagnostic conclusions obtained by the above method have been confirmed during the surgery.

Adrenocorticotropic Hormone↗

Ruptured intracranial aneurysm associated with spontaneous occlusion of internal carotid artery. Experience with 5 cases.

Out of 921 patients diagnosed and treated for intracranial aneurysm in 5 cases (0.5%) the co-existence of ruptured aneurysm and occlusion of the internal carotid artery was found. 4 patients were treated surgically--aneurysm clipping--without serious post-operative complications and 6 months follow-up showed satisfactory results. In 4 of 5 cases the aneurysm was located on the anterior communicating artery (ACA); this fact may support the hypothesis concerning a possible role of enhanced blood flow in aneurysm formation and rupture. In cases with good collateral blood flow extra-/intracranial bypass before aneurysm occlusion seems not to be necessary. The risk of operation in those patients is not as high, as might be expected.

Adult↗

Results of neurosurgical treatment by a transsphenoidal approach in 10 patients with Nelson's syndrome.

Ten patients with Nelson's syndrome, nine women and one man, aged 22 to 61 years, were treated neurosurgically by a transsphenoidal approach. In four patients, microadenomas were found, ranging in diameter from 4 to 10 mm. Microscopically, mixed adenoma was diagnosed in six cases, basophilic adenoma in three patients, and chromophobe adenoma in one patient. The presence of argyrophilic nerve fibers in the adenoma tissue was noted in one case. The time of observation after transsphenoidal surgery ranged from 6 months to 10 years. Clinical remission was achieved in eight patients; in two of them, radiation therapy was used to complement surgical treatment. In two patients, recurrence of the pituitary neoplasm was observed; anaplasia was revealed at the second operation in one of them. Radiation therapy might be a useful adjunct to neurosurgery in Nelson's syndrome, especially in patients with anaplastic adenoma.

Adenoma↗

[Spasm in angiographic image and the development of the symptoms of ischemic stroke in patients after subarachnoid hemorrhage from supratentorial ruptured aneurysm].

The results of angiographic examinations are presented in relation to the development of ischaemic stroke in 219 patients. In the selection of the patients cases were ruled out with coexistent intracranial haematomas, and the patients treated surgically were ruled out in whom the course of the operation suggested a possible influence of additional factors which might have changed the condition of the patient independently of the main disease. Depending on the results of angiography three groups of patients were isolated with different likelihood of ischaemic stroke development: patients without vasospasm or with segmental vasospasm-stroke developed in 15%-9% of cases; patients with unilateral or bilateral diffuse vasospasm of low or medium intensity-stroke in 34%; patients with high-grade diffuse intensity-stroke in 73% of cases. The frequency of stroke in these groups is analysed in relation to the condition of the patient at the time of angiographic examination.

Adolescent↗

[Location of cerebral aneurysms and arteriospasm after subarachnoid hemorrhage].

On the basis of an analysis of 314 patients with aneurysms situated supratentorially the authors tried to establish a possible correlation between the location of the aneurysm and the frequency, intensity and extent of this spasm. Similarly as in the reports of other authors it was not possible to find a correlation between the location of the aneurysm and arteriospasm. Only the group of 28 patients with multiple aneurysms showed the highest percent of most intense and most extensive arteriospasm, which was particularly evident within the first three days after haemorrhage. In the period from the 4th to the 6th days after the last subarachnoid haemorrhage the lowest proportion of angiograms with arteriospasm was noted in patients with aneurysms of the anterior communicating artery. In this group diffuse bilateral arteriospasm was significantly more frequent than in the remaining groups.

Adolescent↗