The greatest of follies is to sacrifice health for any other kind of happiness.

-Arthur Schopenhauer

 

PNA Spotlight: Dr. Adriana G. Ioachimescu

This month the PNA Spotlight focuses on Adriana G. Ioachimescu, MD, PhD, FACE Professor of Medicine (Division of Endocrinology and Molecular Medicine) and Neurosurgery at the Medical College of Wisconsin, a lifetime professional member of the PNA.
Dr. Ioachimescu was a Professor of Medicine in Endocrinology and Neurosurgery at the Emory University School of Medicine. Dr. Ioachimescu was also co-director and co-founder of the Emory Neuroendocrine Pituitary Center and a consulting editor at Endocrinology and Metabolism Clinics. Previously she worked at Carol Davila University in Bucharest, Romania, and at the Cleveland Clinic.

Dr. Ioachimescu was born in Bucharest, Romania and earned her PhD in Neuroendocrinology from Carol Davila University of Medicine. She completed an internship in internal medicine at Danbury Hospital and then a fellowship in Endocrinology at the Cleveland Clinic. She did residencies in internal medicine at Carol Davila University, Yale University and the Cleveland Clinic.

Dr. Ioachimescu was kind enough to respond to a few questions from the PNA:

PNA Medical Corner: Machine Learning and Pituitary Surgery

An article co-authored by multiple members of the PNA (Including Drs. Samson, Chaichana, and Quinones-Hinojosa) looks at the role of machine learning in forecasting outcomes of pituitary surgery. They conclude that it is not ready yet as no model achieved clinical applicability.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36979305/

Abstract

Background: The complex nature and heterogeneity involving pituitary surgery results have increased interest in machine learning (ML) applications for prediction of outcomes over the last decade. This study aims to systematically review the characteristics of ML models involving pituitary surgery outcome prediction and assess their reporting quality.

Methods: We searched the PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Knowledge databases for publications on the use of ML to predict pituitary surgery outcomes.

Featured News and Updates

News Articles October 2026

Pituitary story: teen battles craniopharyngioma

A story in the Yakima Herald spotlights the case of a high school student from Washington State who underwent surgery for a craniopharyngioma near his pituitary gland. Read more:

https://www.yakimaherald.com/news/local/education/highland-student-overcomes-rare-tumor-to-return-to-schools-band/article_f94abec5-7492-4517-9edc-5739023e3982.amp.html

Germ cell tumors masquerading as pituitary inflammation

A new study from China looks at germ cell tumors in adults and concludes that they can often be mistaken for pituitary inflammation. Read more: https://bioengineer.org/rare-brain-germ-cell-tumors-in-adults-often-masquerade-as-pituitary-inflammation-study-finds/

Pituitary story: 82-year-old undergoes pituitary neurosurgery

A hospital in Srinagar, India, reports on a high-risk surgery on an 82-year-old female patient to remove a pituitary macroadenoma. Read more: https://kashmirconvener.com/82-year-old-woman-undergoes-high-risk-pituitary-tumour-surgery-at-paras-srinagar/

 

Child in Ukraine receives donation of pituitary medicine

The nonprofit Direct Relief  reports on the case of a 12-year-old boy in Ukraine with pituitary dwarfism who has received growth hormone medications, thanks to charitable donations. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has severely disrupted medical supplies in that country.  Read more: https://www.directrelief.org/2026/09/ukraine-war-children-growth-hormone-donations/

Case study: Craniopharyngioma linked to spontaneous singing

A story in Medical Daily.com looks at the case of a woman in Poland with a craniopharyngioma whose symptoms included a spontaneous desire to sing religious songs. The symptom subsided after surgical intervention, but then returned.

https://www.medicaldaily.com/brain-lesions-spirituality-circuit-religious-singing-tumor-479227

Research Articles

Research Articles October 2026

Pituitary Tumors

Emerging insights into the pathophysiology of pituitary tumour microenvironment.

Fuentes-Fayos AC, Gil-Duque I, De la Rosa-Herencia AS, Sarmento-Cabral A, Flores-Martínez Á, Cano DA, Martínez-Fuentes AJ, Luque RM.Endocr Relat Cancer. 2026 Aug 26:ERC-26-0262. doi: 10.1530/ERC-26-0262. Online ahead of print.

 

Imaging

Brain Tumor Classification from MRI Using Colormap-Based Vision Transformers on the BRISC2025 Dataset.

Ahmed F.J Imaging Inform Med. 2026 Aug 28. doi: 10.1007/s10278-026-02221-6. Online ahead of print.PMID: 42665755

 

Magnetic resonance elastography of brain tumors.

Koyuncu N, Uca YO, Sack I.Z Med Phys. 2026 Aug 28:S0939-3889(26)00093-0. doi: 10.1016/j.zemedi.2026.08.001. Online ahead of print.

 

Pituitary Surgery

Endoscopic endonasal transcavernous surgery for knosp grade 3-4 growth hormone-secreting pituitary neuroendocrine tumors: surgical outcomes and predictors of biochemical remission.

Tian L, Liu M, Luo M, Zhou C, Gu J, Zeng J, Shen Q, Tong Z, Jiang Y, Luo B, Lin J, Sheng Z, Peng Y.Neurosurg Rev. 2026 Aug 28;49(1):542. doi: 10.1007/s10143-026-04467-8.

 

ERAS Protocol Elements and Neurosurgery-Specific Considerations: A Narrative Review.

Domi R, Saxena S, Berger-Estilita J, Biasucci DG, Meco BC, Lilaj K, Huti G, Matot I, Rubulotta F, Camilleri Podesta AM.Turk J Anaesthesiol Reanim. 2026 Aug 28;54(4):248-261. doi: 10.4274/TJAR.2026.2606.

 

Refining the posterior compartment of the cavernous sinus: a detailed reappraisal of surgical anatomy and techniques for invasive pituitary adenoma resection.

Xu Y, Uchida T, Burgos-Sosa E, Alvarez AS, Rinaldi M, Nakase T, Banu MA, Agostini L, Xiao L, Vigo V, Nisson PL, Menaker SA, Cohen-Gadol AA, Fernandez-Miranda JC.J Neurosurg. 2026 Aug 28:1-13. doi: 10.3171/2026.4.JNS252898. Online ahead of print.

Editor’s note: Dr. Fernandez-Miranda is a member of the PNA.


SurgAnt-ViVQA: learning to anticipate surgical events through GRU-driven temporal cross-attention.

Dhake SC, Huang J, He R, Khan DZ, Mazomenos EB, Bano S, Marcus HJ, Stoyanov D, Clarkson MJ, Hoque MI.Int J Comput Assist Radiol Surg. 2026 Aug 26. doi: 10.1007/s11548-026-03784-z. Online ahead of print.

 

Probable Postsurgical Parsonage-Turner Syndrome Following Endoscopic Endonasal Pituitary Surgery: A Diagnostic Challenge Case Report: Illustrative Case.

Javidialsaadi M, Obillo A, Germanwala A, Ghannad AS, Jani RH, Ng I, Prabhu VC, Patel CR, Germanwala AV.Case Rep Neurol Med. 2026 Aug 25;2026:1964813. doi: 10.1155/crnm/1964813. eCollection 2026.

 

Extent of resection and craniopharyngioma recurrence: a volumetric analysis.

Sarkar S, Vijayaraghavan S, Thakar S, Aryan S.J Neurooncol. 2026 Aug 29;179(2):65. doi: 10.1007/s11060-026-05770-6.

 

Analysis of the factors affecting the quality of life in patients with pituitary adenomas before and after endoscopic transsphenoidal surgery.

Liang W, Xia X, Fan K, Yang T, Cheng J, Zhu X, Li Y, Wang J, Ma Y, Yang Y.Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2026 Aug 13;17:1796777. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2026.1796777. eCollection 2026.

 

Acromegaly

Acromegaly Discovered After Head Trauma: Multivessel Coronary Disease and Postoperative Meningitis Complicating a Pituitary Macroadenoma.

Rockwell S, Boley JS, Pulido N, Safa M, Chertman LS.Cureus. 2026 Jul 28;18(7):e113532. doi: 10.7759/cureus.113532. eCollection 2026 Jul.

 

Acromegaly and colorectal cancer risk: emerging roles of the gut microbiota.

Grifoni GFA, Favero V, Cozzi RC, Chiodini I.Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2026 Aug 13;17:1820034. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2026.1820034. eCollection 2026.


Delayed diagnosis of acromegaly when lower facial features were obscured by masks during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sakaue TA, Mukai K, Kajimoto Y, Obata Y, Takahara M, Shimomura I.JCEM Case Rep. 2026 Aug 28;4(9):luag163. doi: 10.1210/jcemcr/luag163. eCollection 2026 Sep.PMID: 42666735 

 

Hormonal Health

Emerging peptide and neuroendocrine strategies for TRT-induced reproductive suppression and functional male hypogonadism: a narrative review.

Cretu AM, Kamar AAM, Ciobica A, Puia D, Doroftei M, Doroftei B.Front Reprod Health. 2026 Aug 14;8:1914709. doi: 10.3389/frph.2026.1914709. eCollection 2026.

 

 

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