Recovery of vision after transcranial decompression of pituitary apoplexy characterized by third ventricular hemorrhage

Subarachnoid hemorrhage due to pituitary adenoma apoplexy-case report and review of the literature

Pituitary apoplexy (PA) may be complicated by development of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). We conducted a literature review to evaluate the rate of PA-associated tumor rupture and SAH. We conducted a systematic literature search (PubMed, Web of Science, Medline) for patients with PA-associated SAH and report a case SAH following PA. Suitable articles, case series, and case reports were selected based on predefined criteria following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA). We reviewed included publications for clinical, radiological, surgical, and histopathological parameters.We present the case of a patient with PA developing extensive SAH whilst on the MRI who underwent delayed transsphenoidal resection. According to our literature review, we found 55 patients with a median age of 46 years; 18 (32.7%) were female. Factors associated with PA-related SAH were hypertension, diabetes mellitus, prior trauma, anticoagulant, and/or antiplatelet therapy. The most common presenting symptoms included severe headache, nausea and/or vomiting, impaired consciousness, and meningeal irritation. Acute onset was described in almost all patients. Twenty-two of the included patients underwent resection. In patients with available outcome, 45.1% had a favorable outcome, 10 (19.6%) had persisting focal neurological deficits, 7 developed cerebral vasospasms (12.7%), and 18 (35.3%) died. Mortality greatly differed between surgically (9.1%) and non-surgically (44.8%) treated patients. PA-associated SAH is a rare condition developing predominantly in males with previously unknown macroadenomas. Timely surgery often prevents aggravation or development of severe neuro-ophthalmological defects and improves clinical outcome.

Cognition of Nurses in Neurology Department on Rehabilitation Nursing

Stroke has become a major disease seriously threating human health due to its high morbidity, mortality and disability. Rehabilitation nursing care for stroke patients has always been a key part of clinical care. The neurological nursing managers should pay high attention to the issue about how to more effectively improve the level of nurses’ rehabilitation nursing on stroke patients. Therefore, this paper investigates the current cognition of neurological nurses about stroke knowledge, attitude and behaviour, and then analyses the factors affecting the knowledge, attitude and behaviour of stroke in the nurses, in order to provide better nursing services for stroke patients, and improve their nursing quality. The findings show that the different cognitions of nurses about their role have different effects on the knowledge, attitudes and behavioural levels of the neurological nurses; the nurses with more types of roles have better knowledge and behavioural levels of stroke.

Amaurosis in infancy due to craniopharyngioma: a not-exceptional but often misdiagnosed symptom

Since children may not be able to complain of progressive reduction in optic acuity, visual assessment in infancy may present practical difficulties. The authors report a case of craniopharyngioma, which led a young child to early blindness before the correct diagnosis could be made. Similar to other reported cases, the authors found that surgery did not substantially modify the preoperative visual deficit. They conclude that minimal improvement in visual acuity can be expected despite successful microsurgical removal of the tumor.

Visual outcome after surgery in patients with suprasellar tumors and preoperative blindness

Object

The purpose of this paper was to study the visual outcome after surgery in patients with suprasellar tumors who experienced preoperative blindness in 1 or both eyes.

Methods

All patients with suprasellar tumors and no perception of light in 1 or both eyes and who underwent surgery between May 2002 and May 2006 were included in this retrospective study. Outcome was analyzed at discharge from the hospital and at follow-up. There were a total of 79 patients (51 males and 28 females, age range 5–70 years). There were 37 cases of pituitary adenomas, 19 craniopharyngiomas, 18 meningiomas, and 5 other tumors. Preoperatively 61 patients had uniocular blindness and 18 patients had binocular blindness. Of all 158 eyes, 97 (61.4%) were blind at admission and these eyes were analyzed. Sixty-three patients (79.7%) presented with headache and 14 (17.7%) with hypothalamic symptoms. Nearly one fourth (24%) of patients with a pituitary adenoma had a history of apoplexy. The duration of visual decline ranged from 3 days to 7 years, and the duration of blindness ranged from 1 day to 3 years. Patients underwent either transcranial or transsphenoidal tumor decompression.

Results

At discharge from the hospital visual improvement was exhibited in 23 (29%) of 79 patients and 27 (27.8%) of 97 eyes. Improvement to serviceable vision occurred in 7 (8.9%) of 79 patients and in 8 (8.2%) of 97 eyes with pre-operative blindness. After surgery, visual improvement was noted in 15 (24.6%) of 61 patients with uniocular blindness and 8 (44.4%) of 18 patients with binocular blindness. However, serviceable vision was restored in 5 (8.2%) of 61 patients with uniocular and 2 (11.1%) of 18 patients with binocular blindness. Bivariate analysis revealed male sex, shorter duration of blindness, presence of apoplexy, sellar tumor extension, soft tumor consistency, operative evidence of hemorrhage in tumor, and tumor histopathology (pituitary adenoma) to have significant impact on the outcome. Multivariate analysis revealed duration of blindness for > 12 weeks, apoplexy, and sellar extension to have a significant impact on visual outcome.

Conclusions

The present study is the largest in the existing medical literature to evaluate the factors affecting visual outcome after surgery of suprasellar tumors with preoperative blindness.

Pituitary apoplexy in the magnetic resonance imaging era: clinical significance of sphenoid sinus mucosal thickening

OBJECT

The authors report their experience with pituitary apoplexy and evaluate the clinical significance of sphenoid sinus mucosal thickening found on magnetic resonance (MR) imaging.

METHODS

The cases of 28 patients (19 males and nine females) with pituitary apoplexy were reviewed retrospectively. The mean age of the patients was 50 years (range 16-83 years), and the mean follow-up duration was 32 months (range 1-104 months). Admission MR imaging demonstrated hemorrhage or infarction in a pituitary tumor in each patient. A clinical grading scale for apoplexy was devised as follows: Grade I, presence of acute headache and/or endocrine abnormality (12 patients); Grade II, presence of the foregoing symptoms as well as cranial nerve deficit (visual and/or oculomotor; 15 patients); and Grade III, presence of all of these symptoms and a decreased level of consciousness (one patient). Twenty-five patients (89%) underwent early transsphenoidal resection within 9 days (80% within 72 hours) of diagnosis. Headaches and oculomotor paresis resolved completely in 100%, visual function resolved completely in 44% and partially in 56%, and hypopituitarism was reversed in 25%. Twelve patients (43%) required long-term hormone replacement therapy. Two of the three patients who were treated conservatively had prolactin-secreting adenomas, which were treated with dopamine agonist therapy. Thickening of sphenoid sinus mucosa was present in 22 patients (79%). Fifty percent of patients in Grade I and 100% of those in Grades II and III, including all those with persistent hypopituitarism and residual visual deficits, had thickened sphenoid sinus mucosa on MR imaging. Patients with thickened sphenoid sinus mucosa had larger tumors that compressed the optic chiasm or cavernous sinus, and these individuals also had a higher rate of cranial nerve deficits at presentation than those without mucosal thickening (73% compared with 0%). Patients with thickened mucosa had a higher rate of hypopituitarism and subsequent long-term hormone replacement therapy than those without thickened mucosa (55% compared with 17%).

CONCLUSIONS

Thickened sphenoid sinus mucosa may correlate with higher grades of pituitary apoplexy and worse neurological and endocrinological outcomes.

Classical pituitary tumour apoplexy: clinical features, management and outcomes in a series of 24 patients

We retrospectively analysed the incidence, clinical presentation, endocrinological and radiological findings, medical and surgical management of pituitary apoplexy in our department (single-centre study), having a large experience in pituitary surgery. Among 1540 pituitary lesions, 24 patients presented with pituitary apoplexy. Their charts were retrospectively reviewed. The symptoms included headache (92%), nausea and vomiting (54%), visual deficit (50%), oculomotor paresis (54%) and/or an altered mental state (42%). Skull X-rays (n = 14) demonstrated an enlarged sella turcica in all cases; CT-scan and/or MRI always revealed a sellar and suprasellar expanding lesion. Panhypopituitarism was present on admission in 70% of the patients. Urgent therapeutic management included high-dose cortisone treatment in all but one patients and CSF drainage in three. Three patients were treated conservatively. Nine patients were operated on rapidly, within hours or a few days because of severe visual deficit and/or altered level of consciousness. Nineteen patients were operated by the trans-sphenoidal approach; one of them required a second operation by craniotomy. There were two deaths related to the illness and one to an ill-defined reason at 4 months. Among the other patients 95% made a good recovery. All but two patients required a substitutive treatment with adrenal (83%), thyroid (68%), gonadal (42%) and/or growth (16%) hormones. The preoperative visual deficits recovered in all but one patients (92%) whereas the oculomotor pareses improved in all but two patients (85%). In conclusion, pituitary tumour apoplexy is a rare event, complicating in our series 1.6% of 1540 pituitary adenomas. Even in severe cases, complete recovery is possible if the diagnosis is rapidly obtained and adequate management is initiated in time. Surgical results after trans-sphenoidal approach are in the majority of cases very satisfactory.

An unusual presentation of Nelson's syndrome with apoplexy and subarachnoid hemorrhage

A thirty-eight year-old lady with a history of bilateral adrenalectomy for Cushing's disease seven years previously, presented with sudden onset of severe headache, nausea, vomiting and loss of consciousness. She was somnolent and confused. She had neck stiffness, sixth nerve palsy and mydriasis on the left side. Computerized tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies revealed a non-homogeneous, grade IV D pituitary mass lesion associated with hemorrhage in the chiasmatic, interhemispheric, cerebellopontine, perimesencephalic cisterns and a hematoma within the frontal lobe. Angiography showed only bilateral elevation of horizontal segments of the anterior cerebral arteries. According to this angiographic evidence, it was presumed that the subarachnoid hemorrhage and the intracerebral hematoma were linked to pituitary adenoma apoplexy. ACTH level was 450 pg/ml. The hemorrhagic lesion with suprasellar extension was totally removed by left pterional craniotomy. Histological examination revealed a necrotic, ACTH-secreting pituitary adenoma. Even though apoplexy is a well known complication of pituitary adenomas, to our knowledge subarachnoid hemorrhage and intracerebral hematoma as a result of pituitary apoplexy in the context of Nelson's syndrome has not previously been reported.