Current treatment protocols can offer a normal or near-normal quality of life in the majority of patients with non-functioning pituitary adenomas

Quality of life in non-functioning pituitary adenoma: A systematic review

Non-Functioning Pituitary Adenomas (pituitary neuroendocrine tumours) (NFPA) have a profound detrimental effect of patient-reported health-related quality of life (QOL). Elucidating the underlying mechanisms by which NFPA influence patients' emotional physical and psychosocial wellbeing would provide the foundation for therapeutic strategies to optimise patient outcomes. A systematic review of the literature was performed in accordance with the PRISMA statement. Studies that utilised validated metrics to report QOL in NFPA were included. Patients with NFPA exhibit worse QOL than healthy controls across both mental and physical domains. Surgery provides significant improvements in QOL within 3 months, and QOL can normalise years after successful treatment. Compared with functioning adenomas, QOL is favourable. The underlying mechanisms for QOL detriment in NFPA is multifactorial and includes visual failure, hypopituitarism, headache, sleep dysfunction, pain, the sick role, treatment-related anxiety, and the morbidity of surgical and radiotherapy treatment. The effects of NFPA on QOL are global, with deficits in physical, psychosocial, and cognitive function. With successful treatment, QOL can return to that of the general population. Targeting hypopituitarism, sleep dysfunction, headache, pain, and disease-related anxiety are paths to improve QOL in NFPA.

Hypotension during transsphenoidal pituitary surgery associated with increase in plasma levels of brain injury markers

BACKGROUND

Patients undergoing pituitary surgery may experience short- and long-term postoperative morbidity. Intraoperative factors such as hypotension might be a contributing factor. Our aim was to investigate the association between intraoperative hypotension and postoperative plasma levels of tau, neurofilament light (NfL), and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) as markers of perioperative brain injury.

METHODS

Between June 2016 and October 2017, 35 patients from the Gothenburg Pituitary Tumor Study were included. For tau, NfL, and GFAP, concentrations were measured in plasma samples collected before and immediately following surgery, and on postoperative days 1 and 5. The difference between the highest postoperative value and the value before surgery was used for analysis (∆taupeak , ∆NfLpeak , ∆GFAPpeak ). Intraoperative hypotension was defined as the area under the curve of an absolute threshold below 70 mmHg (AUC70) and a relative threshold below 20% (AUC20%) of the baseline mean arterial blood pressure.

RESULTS

Plasma tau and GFAP were highest immediately following surgery and on day 1, while NfL was highest on day 5. There was a positive correlation between AUC20% and both ∆taupeak (r2  = .20, p < .001) and ∆NfLpeak (r2  = .26, p < .001). No association was found between AUC20% and GFAP or between AUC70 and ∆taupeak , ∆NfLpeak or ∆GFAPpeak .

CONCLUSION

Intraoperative relative, but not absolute, hypotension was associated with increased postoperative plasma tau and NfL concentrations. Patients undergoing pituitary surgery may be vulnerable to relative hypotension, but this needs to be validated in future prospective studies.

Health-related quality of life analyses in nonfunctioning pituitary macroadenoma patients identifies at-risk populations

PURPOSE

The quality of life (QoL) impact of multidisciplinary treatment for patients with nonfunctioning pituitary macroadenomas (NFPMA) is unclear. We sought to investigate associations between patient factors, clinical data, and patient-reported QoL in patients with NFPMA.

METHODS

Patients with treated NFPMA and > 1 year of follow up after transsphenoidal surgery (TSS) and with no evidence of progressive disease were evaluated utilizing the following patient-reported outcome measures: RAND-36-Item Health Survey, Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory, Cognitive Failures Questionnaire.

RESULTS

229 eligible patients completed QoL questionnaires a median of 7.7 years after initial transsphenoidal surgery (TSS). 25% of participants received radiation therapy (RT) a median of 2.0 years (0.1-22.5) after initial TSS. Patients who received RT were younger (median age 46 v 58, p < 0.0001), had larger tumors (28 mm v 22 mm, p < 0.0001), were more likely to have visual symptoms (65% v 34%, p = 0.0002), and were more likely to have hypopituitarism (93% v 62%, p < 0.0001). Patients with hypopituitarism reported worse energy and fatigue and cognitive function (p < 0.03). Patients who received RT reported significantly worse general health, physical health, physical fatigue and cognitive functioning (p < 0.05). The largest QoL differences were in patients who experienced a financial stressor, independent of treatment type.

CONCLUSION

Hypopituitarism, radiation therapy after TSS, and financial stressors are associated with more impaired QoL in patients with NFPMA. Awareness of these factors can better guide use and timing of radiation therapy in addition to identifying patients who can benefit from multidisciplinary surveillance.

Prospective evaluation of multidimensional health-related quality of life after endoscopic endonasal surgery for pituitary adenomas using the endoscopic endonasal sinus and skull base surgery questionnaire

Objective

Social functioning is an important factor in the evaluation of postoperative health-related quality of life (HRQoL) for pituitary adenoma patients. In a prospective cohort study multidimensional HRQoL of non-functioning (NFA) and functioning (FA) pituitary adenoma patients were evaluated following endoscopic endonasal surgery using the endoscopic endonasal sinus and skull base surgery questionnaire (EES-Q).

Methods

Prospectively, 101 patients were included. The EES-Q was completed preoperatively and postoperatively (2 weeks, 3 months, 1 year). Sinonasal complaints were completed daily during the first week postoperatively. Preoperative and postoperative scores were compared. A generalized estimating equation (uni- and multivariate) analysis was performed to identify significant HRQoL changes related to selected covariates.

Results

Two weeks postoperatively, physical (p < .05) and social (p < .05) HRQoL are worse and psychological (p < .05) HRQoL improved compared with preoperatively. Three months postoperatively, psychological HRQoL (p = .01) trended back to baseline and no differences in physical or social HRQoL were reported. One year postoperatively, psychological (p = .02) and social (p = .04) HRQoL improved while physical HRQoL remained stable. FA patients report a worse HRQoL preoperatively (social, p < .05) and 3 months postoperatively (social, p < .02 and psychological, p < .02). Sinonasal complaints peak in the first days postoperatively and gradually return to presurgical levels 3 months postoperatively.

Conclusions

The EES-Q provides meaningful information on multidimensional HRQoL to improve patient-centred health care. Social functioning remains the most difficult area in which to achieve improvements. Despite the relatively modest sample size, there is some indication that the FA group continues to show a downward trend (and thus improvement) even after 3 months, when most other parameters reach stability.

Level of evidence

Level II-B.

Quality of Life After Endoscopic Surgical Management of Pituitary Adenomas

BACKGROUND

Patient-reported quality of life (QOL) is a vital metric for surgical success.

OBJECTIVE

To assess the effect of surgery on QOL in the largest prospectively collected, longitudinal cohort of surgically managed pituitary adenomas.

METHODS

A consecutive surgical adenoma cohort (n = 304) between late 2016 and mid-2020 underwent a scheduled overall (Anterior Skull Base Questionnaire-35) and sinonasal-specific (Sinonasal Outcome Test-22) QOL assessment. Scores were stratified by adenoma subtype and analyzed for clinical predictors of QOL changes.

RESULTS

The average age was 53.8 ± 16 yr, and 53% of participants were female. 60.9% of adenomas were nonfunctioning while adrenocorticotropic hormone adenomas (16.4%), growth hormone adenomas (14.1%), and prolactinomas (5.9%) were the most prevalent secreting adenomas. Baseline overall QOL differed between tumor types (P = .006), with adrenocorticotropic hormone adenomas worse than growth hormone adenomas (P = .03) and nonfunctioning pituitary adenomas (NFPA) (P < .001). Sinonasal QOL worsened in the 3 wk after surgery but returned to baseline by 6 wk and beyond. Overall QOL worsened at 3 wk after surgery (P < .001) but significantly improved from baseline by 3 mo (P = .009) and beyond (P < .001). Emotional functioning improved soon after surgery, followed by performance and pain, and then, by 6 mo, physical function and vitality. Predictors of improved QOL were sellar/suprasellar lesions (P = .01), prolactinomas (P = .003), and NFPA (P = .04). Conversely, new postoperative hypopituitarism (P = .04) and larger adenoma volume (P = .04) predicted QOL worsening.

CONCLUSION

QOL is worsened after surgery at early time points. Prolactinomas and NFPA enjoy significant QOL improvements from surgery as early as 3 mo postoperatively. Other functional tumors may experience early benefits in younger patients without hypopituitarism and when isolated to the sellar/suprasellar region. These findings provide valuable information for counseling patients and setting expectations for surgery.

Current opinion on the diagnosis and management of non-functioning pituitary adenomas

INTRODUCTION

Non-functioning pituitary adenomas (NFPAs) are clinically silent tumors and the second most common pituitary adenoma. Surgery is the mainstay of treatment as there is, as yet, no effective medical treatment.

AREAS COVERED

We present current knowledge on the clinical diagnosis, histopathological classification, molecular data, and management strategies in NFPA.

EXPERT OPINION

NFPA is a heterogeneous group of tumors, in respect to their origin and clinical course. In recent years, research on pathology and molecular biology have advanced our knowledge of NFPA pathogenesis. NFPA exhibit, in the majority of cases, an indolent behavior, with satisfactory response to treatment. In aggressive cases, multimodal management is needed; however, even this approach may be insufficient, so the development of new treatments is warranted for better management. In this setting, the understanding of the mechanisms involved in the genesis and progression of NFPA is crucial for the identification and development of directed treatments with higher chances of response.

Circulating brain injury biomarkers increase after endoscopic surgery for pituitary tumors

Pituitary tumors and subsequent treatment with endoscopic transsphenoidal surgery (ETSS) may cause injury to suprasellar structures, causing long-term fatigue and neurocognitive impairment. A method to quantify brain injury after ETSS is not available. In this prospective, exploratory study of patients undergoing ETSS for pituitary tumors, a novel approach to detect possible neuronal damage is presented. Plasma concentrations of brain injury biomarkers (glial fibrillary acidic protein [GFAP], tau, and neurofilament light [NFL]) were measured the day before surgery, immediately after surgery, at day 1 and 5, and at 6 and 12 months after surgery, using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. The association between the increase of biomarkers with preoperative tumor extension and postoperative patient-perceived fatigue was evaluated. Suprasellar tumor extension was assessed from MRI scans, and self-perceived fatigue was assessed using the Multidimensional Fatigue Inventory before and 6 months after surgery. Thirty-five patients were included in the analysis. Compared to baseline, GFAP showed a maximal increase at day 1 after surgery (p = 0.0005), tau peaked postoperatively on the day of surgery (p = 0.019), and NFL reached its maximum at day 5 after surgery (p < 0.0001). The increase in GFAP correlated with preoperative chiasmal compression (p = 0.020). The increase in tau was correlated with preoperative chiasmal (p = 0.011) and hypothalamus compression (p = 0.016), and fatigue score 6 months after surgery (p = 0.016). In conclusion, the concentrations of brain injury biomarkers in blood increased after ETSS for pituitary tumors. The results indicate that postoperative plasma GFAP and tau might reflect astroglial and neuronal damage after ETSS.

Quality of Life and Sleep in Patients with Pituitary Adenoma in Relation to Tumor Type and Compression of the Optic Chiasm

Objective: To determine the effect of transsphenoidal surgery on quality of life and sleep in patients with pituitary adenomas depending on tumor type and compression of the optic chiasm. Methods: In this prospective study, patients with pituitary adenomas who were scheduled for transsphenoidal surgery completed the Short Form 36 Questionnaire, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and Epworth Sleepiness Scale preoperatively and 7.5 (±1.5) months after surgery. Patients were analyzed based on tumor type and compression of the optic chiasm. Results: Significant improvements with large effect sizes were seen for patients with Cushing’s disease in general health (Z = −2.37; p = 0.018), vitality (Z = −2.05; p = 0.041), and mental health (Z = −2.06; p = 0.040). A significant deterioration with large effect size occurred in physical functioning (Z = −2.02; p = 0.043) in patients with acromegaly. A significant improvement with medium effect size was seen in subjective sleep quality, (Z = −2.24; p = 0.025), sleep duration (Z = −2.11; p = 0.035), and habitual sleep efficiency (Z = −2.26; p = 0.024) after decompression of the optic chiasm. Multiple significant correlations were observed between sleep parameters and Short Form 36 subscales before and after treatment. Conclusions: Changes in quality of life during the follow-up period depend on tumor type. Circadian rhythm disturbances may resolve promptly after decompression of the optic chiasm. Quality of life in pituitary adenoma patients is associated with quality of sleep in many dimensions, thus implying that developing strategies to improve sleep quality could increase overall well-being and everyday functioning in pituitary adenoma patients.

Impact of an Oral Nutritional Protocol with Oligomeric Enteral Nutrition on the Quality of Life of Patients with Oncology Treatment-Related Diarrhea

(1) Background: Nutritional status can influence the quality of life (QoL) of cancer patients. (2) Methods: This subanalysis evaluated the impact of an oral oligomeric enteral nutrition (OEN) protocol on the QoL of patients with oncology treatment-related diarrhea (OTRD) in a multicenter, observational, prospective study (DIAPOENO study). QoL was assessed with the Nottingham Health Profile (NHP) at baseline and after eight weeks of OEN treatment. (3) In the overall population, all the NHP categories significantly improved after eight weeks of OEN treatment: energy levels (p < 0.001), pain (p < 0.001), emotional reactions (p < 0.001), sleep (p < 0.001), social isolation (p = 0.023), and physical abilities (p = 0.001). QoL improvement was higher in patients with improved or maintained nutritional status and in those with improved consistency of stools with the OEN protocol. However, QoL did not significantly improve in patients with worse nutritional status and with worse or maintained stool consistency with the OEN protocol. QoL improved regardless of disease severity. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that weight change was significantly associated with improved QoL (OR 2.90-5.3), except for social isolation, in models unadjusted and adjusted to age, sex, oncology treatment, and stool consistency. (4) Conclusion: In this subanalysis, the OEN protocol was associated with improved QoL.

SF-12 or SF-36 in pituitary disease? Toward concise and comprehensive patient-reported outcomes measurements

PURPOSE

Pituitary diseases severely affect patients' health-related quality of life (HRQoL). The most frequently used generic HRQoL questionnaire is the Short Form-36 (SF-36). The shorter 12-item version (SF-12) can improve efficiency of patient monitoring. This study aimed to determine whether SF-12 can replace SF-36 in pituitary care.

METHODS

In a longitudinal cohort study (August 2016 to December 2018) among 103 endoscopically operated adult pituitary tumor patients, physical and mental component scores (PCS and MCS) of SF-36 and SF-12 were measured preoperatively, and 6 weeks and 6 months postoperatively. Chronic care was assessed with a cross-sectional study (N = 431). Mean differences and agreement between SF-36 and SF-12 change in scores (preoperative vs. 6 months) were assessed with intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) and limits of agreement, depicting 95% of individual patients.

RESULTS

In the longitudinal study, mean differences between change in SF-36 and SF-12 scores were 1.4 (PCS) and 0.4 (MCS) with fair agreement for PCS (ICC = 0.546) and substantial agreement for MCS (ICC = 0.931). For 95% of individual patients, the difference between change in SF-36 and SF-12 scores varied between -14.0 and 16.9 for PCS and between -7.8 and 8.7 for MCS. Cross-sectional results showed fair agreement for PCS (ICC = 0.597) and substantial agreement for MCS (ICC = 0.943).

CONCLUSIONS

On a group level, SF-12 can reliably reproduce MCS in pituitary patients, although PCS is less well correlated. However, individual differences between SF-36 and SF-12 can be large. For pituitary diseases, alternative strategies are needed for concise, but comprehensive patient-reported outcome measurement.

Contemporary Management of Clinically Non-functioning Pituitary Adenomas: A Clinical Review

Non-functioning pituitary adenomas (NFPAs) are benign pituitary tumours that constitute about one-third of all pituitary adenomas. They typically present with symptoms of mass effects resulting in hypopituitarism, visual symptoms, or headache. Most NFPAs are macroadenomas (>1 cm in diameter) at diagnosis that can occasionally grow quite large and invade the cavernous sinus causing acute nerve compression and some patients may develop acute haemorrhage due to pituitary apoplexy. The progression from benign to malignant pituitary tumours is not fully understood; however, genetic and epigenetic abnormalities may be involved. Non-functioning pituitary carcinoma is extremely rare accounting for only 0.1% to 0.5 % of all pituitary tumours and presents with cerebrospinal, meningeal, or distant metastasis along with the absence of features of hormonal hypersecretion. Pituitary surgery through trans-sphenoidal approach has been the treatment of choice for symptomatic NFPAs; however, total resection of large macroadenomas is not always possible. Recurrence of tumours is frequent and occurs in 51.5% during 10 years of follow-up and negatively affects the overall prognosis. Adjuvant radiotherapy can decrease and prevent tumour growth but at the cost of significant side effects. The presence of somatostatin receptor types 2 and 3 (SSTR3 and SSTR2) and D2-specific dopaminergic receptors (D2R) within NFPAs has opened a new perspective of medical treatment for such tumours. The effect of dopamine agonist from pooled results on patients with NFPAs has emerged as a very promising treatment modality as it has resulted in reduction of tumour size in 30% of patients and stabilization of the disease in about 58%. Despite the lack of long-term studies on the mortality, the available limited evidence indicates that patients with NFPA have higher standardized mortality ratios (SMR) than the general population, with women particularly having higher SMR than men. Older age at diagnosis and higher doses of glucocorticoid replacement therapy are the only known predictors for increased mortality.

Transsphenoidal resection for pituitary adenoma in elderly versus younger patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis

INTRODUCTION

Pituitary adenomas (PA) are common intracranial tumors. In the context of the aging of the population, the question is whether postsurgical outcomes are comparable to the younger ones. The primary objective of the present study was to review published resection and recurrence rates after transsphenoidal resection. The secondary aim was to evaluate visual improvement and complication rates.

METHODS

The authors searched PubMed and Medline databases, of published English series, with no time frame limit, evaluating outcomes of transsphenoidal resection in populations aged more or less than 65, 70, and 80 years. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis.

RESULTS

Median overall resection rates for younger population was 70.7% (range 54-76.8) and for elderly one was 65.7% (range 16.6-78.2) (two-sample t test, p = 0.35). The only statistically significant difference for gross total resection rates (GTR) favored patients aged less than 80 (p = 0.01). There was no statistically significant difference among recurrence rates. There was a statistically significant difference for visual improvement favoring patients aged more than 80 (p = 0.03). For the age groups of less versus more than 70, there was a statistically significant difference for overall complication rate favoring younger groups (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

Present data shows GTR rates favoring younger patients. Recurrence rates remain similar over the mean follow-up period. Moreover, visual improvement favors patients aged more than 80. Overall complication rates favor patients younger than 70, which might be also related to additional comorbidities, frequently present in seniors. Transsphenoidal surgery is safe and effective even for older patients.

Posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) in patients with Cushing's disease before and after surgery: A prospective study

The aim of this study was to investigate the occurrence, correlated factors and prognosis of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) in patients with Cushing's disease (CD). A total of 49 patients who were newly diagnosed with CD and underwent transsphenoidal surgery in our hospital from April 2015 to August 2017 were asked to participate in this study. Another group of 49 age and sex matched healthy control participants were also included for comparison. PTSS (measured with Impact of Event Scale-Revised, IES-R), depression/anxiety (measured with Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale, HADS) and quality of life (QoL; measured with 36-item short-form, SF-36) were evaluated at pre-surgery, 6 months post-surgery and 12 months post-surgery. The results showed that at preoperative stage, 15 (30.6%) CD patients developed PTSS, and they had higher 24 h UFC, and presented worse levels of depression, anxiety and QoL compared with patients without PTSS. Although most of them recovered postoperatively, there were still 5/15 (33.3%) patients persisted with PTSS for over a year. Additionally, one patient with recurred CD developed PTSS between 6 and 12 months postoperatively. Among the whole group of CD patients, the PTSS severity showed consistent improvement after surgery, which was in accordance with the progressing trends of depression, anxiety and psychological aspects of SF-36. However, compared with healthy individuals, CD patients in remission still performed worse in physical/mental health. In conclusion, patients with CD can develop PTSS, and they may persist for over a year even after successful surgery. Combined psychological intervention is advised for these patients.

How non-functioning pituitary adenomas can affect health-related quality of life: a conceptual model and literature review

After treatment for a non-functioning pituitary adenoma (NFA) health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) improves considerably. However, the literature about the normalization of HR-QoL after treatment is inconclusive. Some researchers described a persistently decreased HR-QoL compared to reference data, while others did not. Considering this variety in observed HR-QoL outcomes, the aim of the present review was to provide a literature overview of health outcomes in patients with a NFA, using a conceptual HR-QoL model. A concrete conceptualization of the health outcomes of patients with a NFA can be helpful to understand the observed variety in HR-QoL outcomes and to improve clinical care and guidance of these patients. For this conceptualization, the Wilson and Cleary model was used. This model has a biopsychosocial character and has been validated in several patient populations. In the present review, health outcomes of patients with a NFA were described at each stage of the model e.g. biological and physiological variables, symptom status, functional status, general health perceptions and overall HR-QoL. The Wilson-Cleary model elucidates that elements at each stage of the model can contribute to the impairment in HR-QoL of patients with a NFA, which explains the reported variety in the literature. Furthermore, by applying the model, potential interventions targeting these elements can be identified. While optimal biomedical treatment has always been the focus, it is clearly not sufficient for good HR-QoL in patients with a NFA. Further improvement of HR-QoL should be supported by a pituitary specific care trajectory, including psychosocial care (e.g. self-management training), to beneficially affect characteristics of the patient and the (healthcare) environment, with the utmost goal to optimize HR-QoL in patients after treatment.

Congress of Neurological Surgeons Systematic Review and Evidence-Based Guideline on Pretreatment Ophthalmology Evaluation in Patients With Suspected Nonfunctioning Pituitary Adenomas

BACKGROUND

Nonfunctioning pituitary adenomas (NFPAs) are the most frequent pituitary tumors. Visual symptoms from NFPAs are common and include visual field defects, loss of central vision, and motility problems resulting in diplopia.

OBJECTIVE

To create evidence-based guidelines in an attempt to formulate guidance for preoperative ophthalmologic evaluation of NFPA patients.

METHODS

An extensive literature search was performed. Only clinical articles describing preoperative ophthalmologic evaluation of adult patients with NFPA were included. To ascertain the class of evidence for the posttreatment follow-up, the authors used the Clinical Assessment evidence-based classification.

RESULTS

Six studies met the inclusion criteria with respect to the questions regarding the preoperative ophthalmologic evaluation of NFPA patients. Based on the studies located through the search, the authors formulated evidence-based recommendations as they pertain to the necessity of ophthalmologic evaluation before surgical treatment.

CONCLUSION

Preoperative ophthalmologic evaluation is recommended. Such evaluation can provide prognostic factors for recovery and, when paired with postoperative evaluation, documents postoperative change. In addition to formal ophthalmologic examination, tests of value include automated static perimetry and optical coherence tomography. Older patients and patients with longer duration (>4 months) of vision loss should be counseled regarding the reduced chance of postoperative vision improvement. The full guidelines document for this chapter can be located at https://www.cns.org/guidelines/guidelines-management-patients-non-functioning-pituitary-adenomas/Chapter_4.

ABBREVIATIONS

NFPA, nonfunctioning pituitary adenomaOCT, optical coherence tomography.

MANAGEMENT OF ENDOCRINE DISEASE: Present and future perspectives for medical therapy of nonfunctioning pituitary adenomas

In contrast to the clear indication for surgical treatment in symptomatic patients with clinically nonfunctioning pituitary adenomas (NFPA), there are no randomized controlled studies comparing therapeutic strategies such as watchful waiting, irradiation or medical therapy for the management of NFPA after surgery. Further, no medical therapy is currently approved for the treatment of NFPA. In this review, we summarize accumulating data on medications currently approved for secreting pituitary adenomas, used off-label in patients with NFPA. Perspectives on overall treatment optimization and potential future therapies are also detailed.

MANAGEMENT OF ENDOCRINE DISEASE: Quality of life tools for the management of pituitary disease

BACKGROUND

In the last few years, quality of life (QoL) has become an outcome measure in patients with pituitary diseases.

OBJECTIVE

To describe the available data on QoL impairment evaluated with questionnaires in patients with pituitary diseases.

DESIGN

Critical review of the pertinent literature and pragmatic discussion of available information.

METHODS

Selection of relevant literature from PubMed and WOK, especially from the last 5 years and comprehensive analysis.

RESULTS

QoL is impaired in all pituitary diseases, mostly in acromegaly and Cushing's disease (similar to other causes of Cushing's syndrome), but also in non-functioning pituitary adenomas and prolactinomas, especially in the active phase of the disease. Nevertheless, even after endocrine 'cure', scores tend to be below normative values, indicative of residual morbidity after hormonal control. The presence of hypopituitarism worsens subjective QoL perception, which can improve after optimal substitution therapy, including recombinant human growth hormone, when indicated.

CONCLUSIONS

To improve the long-term outcome of pituitary patients, helping them to attain the best possible health, it appears desirable to include subjective aspects captured when evaluating QoL, so that the affected dimensions are identified and if relevant treated. Additionally, being aware that treatment outcome may not always mean complete normalisation of physical and mental issues related to QoL can be a first step to adaptation and conforming to this new status.

Hormonal Replacement in Hypopituitarism in Adults: An Endocrine Society Clinical Practice Guideline

OBJECTIVE

To formulate clinical practice guidelines for hormonal replacement in hypopituitarism in adults.

PARTICIPANTS

The participants include an Endocrine Society-appointed Task Force of six experts, a methodologist, and a medical writer. The American Association for Clinical Chemistry, the Pituitary Society, and the European Society of Endocrinology co-sponsored this guideline.

EVIDENCE

The Task Force developed this evidence-based guideline using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation system to describe the strength of recommendations and the quality of evidence. The Task Force commissioned two systematic reviews and used the best available evidence from other published systematic reviews and individual studies.

CONSENSUS PROCESS

One group meeting, several conference calls, and e-mail communications enabled consensus. Committees and members of the Endocrine Society, the American Association for Clinical Chemistry, the Pituitary Society, and the European Society of Endocrinology reviewed and commented on preliminary drafts of these guidelines.

CONCLUSIONS

Using an evidence-based approach, this guideline addresses important clinical issues regarding the evaluation and management of hypopituitarism in adults, including appropriate biochemical assessments, specific therapeutic decisions to decrease the risk of co-morbidities due to hormonal over-replacement or under-replacement, and managing hypopituitarism during pregnancy, pituitary surgery, and other types of surgeries.

Health-related quality of life in patients treated for nonfunctioning pituitary adenomas during the years 2000-2010

OBJECTIVE

The published data on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) after treatment of nonfunctioning pituitary adenomas (NFPAs) are conflicting. We evaluated HRQoL in a recent series of patients who had surgery for an NFPA.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional study including a large control population.

PATIENTS AND MEASUREMENTS

A HRQoL questionnaire (15D) was sent to all patients (n = 161) having undergone transsphenoidal surgery for NFPA in the years 2000-2010 at the Helsinki University Hospital. The 15D score and dimension scores of the study population (n = 137) were compared with those of a large (n = 4967) gender- and age-standardized control population. Possible independent predictors of HRQoL in the patients were estimated with multivariate regression analysis.

RESULTS

Postoperatively, 57% of the patients had normal visual function. After a mean follow-up of 7·4 ± 3·2 years (mean ± SD), 62% suffered from hypopituitarism. Overall, HRQoL was near-normal in patients compared to controls (15D scores 0·885 ± 0·114 vs 0·903 ± 0·093, respectively, P = 0·07). On single dimensions, patients had impaired vision and sexual activity (both P < 0·0005), more depression and distress (both P < 0·005) and less discomfort and symptoms (P < 0·05). Age, body mass index, diabetes, depression and reoperation were independent predictors of impaired HRQoL (all P < 0·05). Thyroxine substitution was associated with impaired and hydrocortisone and testosterone substitution (males only) with better HRQoL (all P < 0·05).

CONCLUSIONS

This recent series of NFPA patients demonstrates that overall HRQoL is near-normal after medium term follow-up; the most impaired dimensions were in vision and sexual activity. Comorbidities are strong predictors of impaired HRQoL.

Prospective comparison of sinonasal outcomes after microscopic sublabial or endoscopic endonasal transsphenoidal surgery for nonfunctioning pituitary adenomas

OBJECT Both endoscopic and microscopic transsphenoidal approaches are accepted techniques for the resection of pituitary adenomas. Although studies have explored patient outcomes for each technique individually, none have prospectively compared sinonasal and quality of life outcomes in a concurrent series of patients at the same institution, as has been done in the present study. METHODS Patients with nonfunctioning adenomas undergoing transsphenoidal surgery were assessed for sinonasal function, quality of life, and pain using the Sino-Nasal Outcome Test-20 (SNOT-20), the short form of the Nasal Obstruction Symptom Evaluation (NOSE) instrument, the SF-36, and a headache scale. Eighty-two patients undergoing either endoscopic (47 patients) or microscopic (35 patients) surgery were surveyed preoperatively and at 24-48 hours, 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 8 weeks, and 1 year after surgery. RESULTS Patients who underwent endoscopic and microscopic transsphenoidal surgery experienced a similar recovery pattern, showing an initial increase in symptoms during the first 2 weeks, followed by a return to baseline by 4 weeks and improvement beyond baseline functioning by 8 weeks. Patients who underwent endoscopic surgery experienced better sinonasal outcomes at 24-48 hours (SNOT total p = 0.015, SNOT rhinologic subscale [ssRhino] p < 0.001), 2 weeks (NOSE p = 0.013), and 8 weeks (SNOT total p = 0.032 and SNOT ssRhino p = 0.035). By 1 year after surgery, no significant differences in sinonasal outcomes were observed between the 2 groups. Headache scales at 1 year improved in all dimensions except duration for both groups (total result 73%, p = 0.004; severity 46%, p < 0.001; frequency 53%, p < 0.001), with 80% of either microscopic or endoscopic patients experiencing improvement or resolution of headache symptoms. Endoscopic and microscopic patients experienced reduced vitality preoperatively compared with US population norms and remained low postoperatively. By 8 weeks after surgery, both groups experienced significant improvements in mental health (13%, p = 0.005) and vitality (15%, p = 0.037). By 1 year after surgery, patients improved significantly in mental health (14%, p = 0.03), role physical (14%, p = 0.036), social functioning (16%, p = 0.009), vitality (22%, p = 0.002), and SF-36 total (10%, p = 0.024) as compared with preoperative measures. There were no significant differences at any time point between the 2 groups for the total SF-36 or for any of the 8 subscales. CONCLUSIONS Patients who underwent either an endoscopic or a microscopic approach experienced the greatest nasal symptoms at 2 weeks postoperatively and exhibited similar time courses of recovery in nasal, headache, and quality of life assessments. Although patients who underwent endoscopic surgery experienced significantly fewer nasal symptoms during the first 8 weeks, by 1 year after surgery, there were no significant differences between the 2 groups.

Quality of life (QoL) impairments in patients with a pituitary adenoma: a systematic review of QoL studies

PURPOSE

Pituitary adenomas give rise to physical and psychological symptoms, which may persist after biochemical cure. Growing attention has been paid to quality of life (QoL) in these patients. We aimed to systematically analyze QoL assessment methods and QoL outcome in these patients.

METHODS

We conducted a systematic literature search up to January 2014 in PubMed, Web of Knowledge, PsycInfo and EMBASE.

RESULTS

102 papers assessing QoL in patients with a pituitary adenoma were included. In clinical (original) studies in which QoL was the primary outcome parameter (n = 54), 19 studies combined a generic questionnaire with a disease-specific questionnaire. QoL was found to be impaired in patients with active disease relative to controls, and generally improved during biochemical cure. However, no normalization occurred, with patients with remitted Cushing's disease demonstrating the smallest improvement. Somatic factors (e.g., hypopituitarism, sleep characteristics), psychological factors (illness perceptions) and health care environment (rural vs. urban) were identified as influencing factors. Intervention studies (predominantly evaluating medical interventions) have been found to improve QoL.

CONCLUSIONS

The growing number of studies assessing QoL generally described the negative impact of pituitary adenomas. QoL research in this patient group could be further elaborated by the development of disease-specific questionnaires for prolactinoma and non-functioning adenoma, consequent use of generic and disease-specific questionnaires and using a long-term (longitudinal) follow-up. Surgical and pharmacological interventions improve but not normalize QoL. We postulate that there might be margin for further improvement of QoL, for instance by using psychosocial interventions, in addition to optimal medical treatment.

Normal long-term health-related quality of life can be achieved in patients with functional pituitary adenomas having surgery as primary treatment

BACKGROUND

Previous studies report impaired health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients with functional pituitary adenomas (FPA). We assessed HRQoL in FPA patients having undergone surgery at our University Central Hospital between 2000 and 2010, with combined adjuvant treatment given to achieve strict hormonal control.

DESIGN

A cross-sectional study including a large control population.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

HRQoL was assessed by the 15D in 100 FPA patients (acromegaly n = 47, Cushing's disease n = 21, prolactinoma n = 26, TSH-adenoma n = 2, gonadotropinoma n = 4), operated on a mean 7·4 (range 2·1-13·0) years earlier. An age- and gender-standardized sample of the general population (n = 4924) served as controls. HRQoL determinants were assessed by independent samples t-test and multiple regression analysis.

RESULTS

Hormonal remission rate was 90·9% and 43·9% of the patients received replacement therapy. The mean 15D scores were similar in patients and controls (0·917 vs 0·922, P = 0·568). On single dimensions, patients were worse off regarding speech and sexual activity (both P < 0·05) and better off regarding discomfort and symptoms (P < 0·05). Age (P = 0·001), co-morbidities (P = 0·009), Cushing's disease (P = 0·034), and thyroxine dose (P = 0·002) predicted impaired HRQoL, but not hypopituitarism, hydrocortisone replacement, radiotherapy, or time after surgery.

CONCLUSIONS

It is possible to achieve near-normal HRQoL in surgically treated FPA patients given adjuvant treatment to achieve strict hormonal remission. However, in addition to age and co-morbidities, Cushing's disease and need for thyroxine replacement therapy predict impaired HRQoL.

Efficacy and complications of pituitary irradiation

Radiation therapy is widely used in the management of intracranial (including sellar and parasellar) and systemic disorders. Although in many cases the irradiation aims to prevent the growth or regrowth and to control the hormonal hypersecretion of a pituitary tumor, in many others it adversely affects the hypothalamo-pituitary function simply because this area receives significant doses of radiation delivered for non-hypothalamo-pituitary disorders. The main long-term complications include hypopituitarism, optic neuropathy, cerebrovascular morbidity, and second brain tumors. Radiation technique and schedule are important determinants of these adverse effects.

Health-related quality of life in pituitary diseases

In the last 15 years, worse health-related quality of life (QoL) has been reported in patients with pituitary diseases compared with healthy individuals. Different QoL questionnaires have shown incomplete physical and psychological recovery after therapy. Residual impairments often affect QoL even long-term after successful treatment of pituitary adenomas. In this article, knowledge of factors that affect QoL in pituitary diseases is reviewed. The focus is on 5 pituitary diseases: Cushing syndrome, acromegaly, prolactinomas, nonfunctioning pituitary adenomas, and hypopituitarism.

Towards a better quality of life (QoL) for patients with pituitary diseases: results from a focus group study exploring QoL

PURPOSE

Patients treated for pituitary adenomas generally report a reduced quality of life (QoL). At present, the patient's perspective of QoL has not been fully addressed and this, and further insight in potential determinants of QoL in pituitary diseases is required to design strategies to improve QoL. We aimed to define patients' perceived QoL and to identify potential factors they perceive to contribute to QoL.

METHODS

We conducted four independent focus groups of six patients each, per specific pituitary disease (Cushing's disease, Non-functioning pituitary macroadenoma, acromegaly, prolactinoma). In two sessions these focus groups discussed aspects of QoL. Verbatim transcripts were analyzed using a grounded theory approach.

RESULTS

The issues raised by the patient groups were compatible with statements and items of available QoL questionnaires. In addition, other QoL aspects emerged, such as visual limitations (physical problems); issues with a desire to have children/family planning, fear of collapsing, fear of recurrence, panic, persisting thoughts, problems with an altered personality, anger, jealousy, sadness, frustration (psychological problems); and difficulties communicating about the disease, lack of sympathy and understanding by others, and a reduced social network (social problems). Next, this study uncovered factors which might contribute to a decreased QoL (e.g. less effective coping strategies, negative illness perceptions, negative beliefs about medicines, unmet needs regarding care).

CONCLUSIONS

This focus group study demonstrated that important disease-specific aspects of QoL are neglected in current pituitary disease-specific questionnaires and elucidated potential factors that contribute to a decreased QoL. Information provided in this study can (and will) be used for developing additional items for disease-specific QoL questionnaires and for the development of a self-management intervention aiming to improve QoL in patients treated for pituitary diseases.

Body Image Disturbance in Acromegaly Patients Compared to Nonfunctioning Pituitary Adenoma Patients and Controls

Purpose. Excess growth hormone secretion in adults results in acromegaly, a condition in which multiple physical changes occur including bony and soft tissue overgrowth. Over time these changes can markedly alter a person's appearance. The aim of this study was to compare body image disturbance in patients with acromegaly to those with nonfunctioning pituitary adenomas (NFAs) and controls and assess the impact of obesity in these groups. Methods. A cross-sectional survey including quality of life, body image disturbance, anxiety and depression measures, growth hormone, and BMI measurement was carried out. Results. The groups did not differ with respect to body image disturbance. However separate analysis of obese participants demonstrated relationships between mood scales, body image disturbance, and pain issues, particularly for acromegaly patients. Conclusions. While the primary hypothesis that acromegaly might be associated with body image disturbance was not borne out, we have shown that obesity together with acromegaly and NFA can be associated with body image issues, suggesting that BMI rather than primary diagnosis might better indicate whether patients might experience body image disturbance problems.

Improving Quality of Life in Patients with Pituitary Tumours

Evaluation of health-related quality of life (QoL) in people with pituitary tumours has received much attention over the last 10-15 years. Most of them show impaired QoL, but little is known about how to prevent impairment or how to improve QoL. Our aim is to review what is known about QoL in pituitary tumours patients and to highlight the areas worth improving, for the patient's well being. The article has four sections: acromegaly, Cushing's syndrome, prolactinomas and non-functioning adenomas. Control of comorbidities is usually an important factor to prevent QoL impairment; however, each disease has specific characteristics that should be properly addressed in order to obtain full patient recovery after successful therapy.