Visual outcomes after treatment of pituitary adenomas

Ophthalmological Management of Patients with Pituitary Adenomas

Pituitary tumours are a common cause of functional impairment and degeneration of the anterior visual pathway. Depending on localization and size, they clinically manifest as initially reversible visual field defects. As part of interdisciplinary tumour management, ophthalmologic examinations are of particular importance concerning diagnostics, indication for tumour resection and documentation of functional surgical results. Based on the relationship between clinical dysfunction and manifest atrophy, together with the patient's age and the duration of symptoms, the ophthalmologist can provide insights into the postoperative visual prognosis. Under good conditions, surgical tumour resection often results in significant improvements to visual fields and acuity. Long-term ophthalmological controls are required in cases of persistent visual loss, radiotherapy or tumour remnants abutting the visual pathway.

Eye Signs in Pituitary Disorders

The eye is a vital sense organ and plays a vital role in conveying the underlying physical and mental state of wellbeing of an individual. A comprehensive examination of the eye is often required in patients presenting with systemic complaints. Many endocrine disorders have characteristic manifestations pertaining to the eye, the classical being the exophthalmos in thyrotoxicosis. However, a cursory eye evaluation may lead to the identification of early features that can help in the diagnosis of other endocrine disorders. This is more common in cases of pituitary mass lesions, who often present with the functional hormonal alterations rather than the visual symptoms. The definitive therapy during the late stages of the disease leads to persisting visual disabilities and affects the quality of life. Hence, the endocrinologists and ophthalmologists need to be aware of various ophthalmic features in the pituitary disorders. In this review, we highlight the eye signs in pituitary disorders, along with a brief description of uncommon ocular-pituitary syndromes.

Predicting the early visual outcomes in sellar-suprasellar lesions compressing the chiasm: the role of SD-OCT series of 20 patients operated via endoscopic endonasal approach

BACKGROUND

Tumors involving the sellar area often cause visual disorders due to optic nerves/chiasm compression, so that surgery is required. However the likelihood of visual improvement/restoration is variable. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a valid diagnostic tool for defining pathological conditions of the optic apparatus. We herein investigated the role of the SD-OCT and the best corrected visual acuity in predicting postoperative visual recovery, in patients complaining of chiasm compression due to sellar-suprasellar lesions.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We retrospectively analyzed 20 patients (7 females and 13 males; mean age 50,8 ± 17,87 years, range 11-83), with optic chiasm/nerve compression that underwent endoscopic endonasal approach at the Division of Neurosurgery of the Università degli Studi di Napoli "Federico II", Naples - Italy, between June 2014 and February 2015. Pre-operative ophthalmological assessment focused on BCVA Snellen charts, Standard Automated Perimetry test and SD-OCT. Test were repeated at two weeks, one and three months after surgery.

RESULTS

A significant thickness reduction in all the patients, as compared to the control group was noted: GCC thickness reduction remained mostly unchanged postoperatively. 42.9% of the patients had altered visual acuity (VA), while the Perimetry revealed 90% of altered preoperative MD values (MD> -2.00): perimetry improvement was noted in 93% of cases and visual acuity in 91.3% of cases. A direct correlation between preoperative retinal status and functional recovery was identified considering the values of pRNFL and GCC.

CONCLUSIONS

OCT provides valuable information in regards to the entity of compression also in patients without any visual field defects. Although several factors should be taken into consideration, we retain that preoperative RNFL and GCC thickness values can be claimed as a reliable predictors of visual recovery in those patients presenting chiasm compression.

Visual outcome of surgically managed pituitary adenomas followed-up at the Yaoundé Central Hospital

INTRODUCTION

Pituitary adenomas are benign brain tumours arising from the adenohypophysis; representing 10-15% of all intra-cranial tumours. Despite improved management, they are still related to high morbidity. Visual impairment is a common presentation and visual field defects representing 37-96%. We aimed at describing the clinical presentation of operated patients and their visual outcome.

METHODS

We conducted a cross-sectional study for 6 months at the Yaoundé Central Hospital's Neurosurgery, Endocrinology and Ophthalmology departments. We included all patients with histopathological confirmation, having pre-operative visual assessment and operated from January 2010 to June 2016.

RESULTS

Twenty-five participants (50 eyes) were enrolled. Three subtypes of pituitary adenomas were identified: Non-functional pituitary adenomas (64%) > Somatotropinomas (20%) > Prolactinomas (16%). All cases were macroadenomas. The median duration of symptoms was 14 months. All participants presented with vision impairment and 80% with headaches. Craniotomy was used in 88% of cases. The temporal hemifield was the most quantitatively affected; 76% of eyes presented with visual acuity (VA) < 6/12 and 24% of eyes a visual acuity ≥6/12. Thirty percent of eyes presented with optic atrophy; cranial nerve III palsy was the most observed. The Mean deviation (MD), an automated visual field index, improved though non-significant and 16% of eyes had a normal visual field printout after surgery. Left eye mean deviation improved significantly (p = 0.04). After surgery, there was a mild improvement of VA with 62% of eyes having a VA< 6/12 and 38% a VA ≥6/12. There was no ophthalmoplaegia after surgery. Long delay before diagnosis significantly jeopardizes pre-operative and post-operative visual acuity (r = 0.5; p = 0.01).

CONCLUSION

Quantitative vision parameters comparison are suggestive of a potential improvement of vision. This conclusion will be better ascertained on a large-scale sample size. Long delay before diagnosis is associated to poor visual outcome.

Predictive value of preoperative retinal nerve fiber layer thickness for postoperative visual recovery in patients with chiasmal compression

The aim of this study was to evaluate the predictive role of preoperative retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness for postoperative visual recovery in patients with chiasmal compression through performing a meta-analysis. PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library and China National Knowledge Infrastructure were searched for relevant studies. The study and patient characteristics were extracted. Pooled odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) was calculated to estimate the predictive value of RNFL thickness. Subgroup analyses were also performed. Four studies with 202 patients and 395 eyes were included. The pooled results showed that patients with normal RNFL thickness could achieve better visual recovery compared with those with thin RNFL with the OR of 15.61 (95% CI, 4.09-59.61). Significant heterogeneity was observed (I2 = 54.5%, P=0.086). Publication bias was not present. Normal preoperative RNFL thickness could predict better postoperative visual recovery than thin RNFL in patients with chiasmal compression.

Quantitative evaluation of vision-related and health-related quality of life after endoscopic transsphenoidal surgery for pituitary adenoma

OBJECTIVE Endoscopic resection of pituitary adenomas has been reported to improve vision function in up to 80%-90% of patients with visual impairment due to these adenomas. It is unclear how these reported rates translate into improvement in visual outcomes and general health as perceived by the patients. The authors evaluated self-assessed health-related quality of life (HR-QOL) and vision-related QOL (VR-QOL) in patients before and after endoscopic resection of pituitary adenomas. METHODS The authors prospectively collected data from 50 patients who underwent endoscopic resection of pituitary adenomas. This cohort included 32 patients (64%) with visual impairment preoperatively. Twenty-seven patients (54%) had pituitary dysfunction, including 17 (34%) with hormone-producing tumors. Patients completed the National Eye Institute Visual Functioning Questionnaire and the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey preoperatively and 6 weeks and 6 months after surgery. RESULTS Patients with preoperative visual impairment reported a significant impact of this condition on VR-QOL preoperatively, including general vision, near activities, and peripheral vision; they also noted vision-specific impacts on mental health, role difficulties, dependency, and driving. After endoscopic resection of adenomas, patients reported improvement across all these categories 6 weeks postoperatively, and this improvement was maintained by 6 months postoperatively. Patients with preoperative pituitary dysfunction, including hormone-producing tumors, perceived their general health and physical function as poorer, with some of these patients reporting improvement in perceived general health after the endoscopic surgery. All patients noted that their ability to work or perform activities of daily living was transiently reduced 6 weeks postoperatively, followed by significant improvement by 6 months after the surgery. CONCLUSIONS Both VR-QOL and patient's perceptions of their ability to do work and perform other daily activities as a result of their physical health significantly improved by 6 months after endoscopic resection of pituitary adenoma. The use of multidimensional QOL questionnaires provides a precise assessment of perceived outcomes after endoscopic surgery.

Predictive model for recovery of visual field after surgery of pituitary adenoma

Visual field defect is a major indication for surgery of pituitary adenoma, but visual outcome after surgery is difficult to predict. We developed a nomogram that predicts postoperative restoration of visual field defects in patients with pituitary adenoma. This study was a retrospective cohort investigation of patients who were treated for pituitary adenoma between January 2009 and December 2013. We enrolled 111 eyes of 57 patients who completed one ophthalmological evaluation preoperatively and at least two evaluations within 6 months after surgery. Serial changes in visual fields and retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness were evaluated. Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to select prognostic variables, and a nomogram to predict restoration of visual field defects was constructed. Visual field defects continuously improved until 3 months after surgery. However, average, superior, and inferior RNFL thickness continuously decreased until 6 months after surgery. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that worse preoperative visual field defect (p = 0.018), high MRI compression grade (p = 0.009), and inferior RNFL thinning (p = 0.011) were significantly associated with worse visual outcome. The nomogram that predicts the visual restoration showed an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.84. In conclusion, we developed a nomogram that predicted the restoration of visual field defects after removal of pituitary adenoma. This would allow tailored counseling of individual patients by precisely predicting visual recovery after surgery.

Oculomotor Paralysis, Postorbital Pain, and Hypopituitarism as First Presentations of Metastatic Gastric Cancer in the Pituitary Flourished by Internal Carotid Aneurysm: A Case Report

Metastatic gastric cancer in the pituitary (MGCP) is rare. Few are known on the clinical and radiological characteristics of MGCP. To date, the coexistence of metastatic pituitary tumors and intracranial aneurysms has not been reported in literatures. We present a case of MGCP with internal carotid aneurysm in a 57-year-old woman, who presented with oculomotor paralysis, postorbital pain, and hypopituitarism as onset symptoms. The patient had a history of the surgical removal of gastric cancer. Magnetic resonance imaging and single-photon emission computed tomography revealed a recurrent sellar mass with intracranial and multiple bone metastases. The patient underwent subtotal removal of the tumor, followed by conformal radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Ten months after surgery, the patient died due to deterioration of her overall condition. We also reviewed and analyzed the clinical data, imaging features, and treatment methods of additional 4 cases with MGCP, which were reported in literatures. This study provides important clinical information for the diagnosis and treatment of MGCP.

Pituitary tumor apoplexy

We review the etiology, investigations, management and outcomes of pituitary tumor apoplexy. Pituitary tumor apoplexy is a clinical syndrome which typically includes the acute onset of headache and/or visual disturbance, cranial nerve palsy and partial or complete endocrine dysfunction. It is associated with either infarction or hemorrhage of a pre-existing pituitary adenoma and is associated with significant morbidity and potential fatality. Not all patients will present with classic signs and symptoms, therefore it is pertinent to appreciate the clinical spectrum in which this condition can present.

Educating the blind brain: a panorama of neural bases of vision and of training programs in organic neurovisual deficits

Vision is a complex function, which is achieved by movements of the eyes to properly foveate targets at any location in 3D space and to continuously refresh neural information in the different visual pathways. The visual system involves five main routes originating in the retinas but varying in their destination within the brain: the occipital cortex, but also the superior colliculus (SC), the pretectum, the supra-chiasmatic nucleus, the nucleus of the optic tract and terminal dorsal, medial and lateral nuclei. Visual pathway architecture obeys systematization in sagittal and transversal planes so that visual information from left/right and upper/lower hemi-retinas, corresponding respectively to right/left and lower/upper visual fields, is processed ipsilaterally and ipsialtitudinally to hemi-retinas in left/right hemispheres and upper/lower fibers. Organic neurovisual deficits may occur at any level of this circuitry from the optic nerve to subcortical and cortical destinations, resulting in low or high-level visual deficits. In this didactic review article, we provide a panorama of the neural bases of eye movements and visual systems, and of related neurovisual deficits. Additionally, we briefly review the different schools of rehabilitation of organic neurovisual deficits, and show that whatever the emphasis is put on action or perception, benefits may be observed at both motor and perceptual levels. Given the extent of its neural bases in the brain, vision in its motor and perceptual aspects is also a useful tool to assess and modulate central nervous system (CNS) in general.