Health is the soul that animates all the enjoyments of life, which fade and are tasteless without it. 

-Lucius Annaeus Seneca

 

PNA Spotlight: Dr. Kevin Lillehei

This month the PNA Spotlight focuses on Dr. Kevin Lillehei, Chair of Neurosurgery at University of Colorado Health Sciences Center and Medicine, where he directs the Pituitary Tumor Division and the Surgical Neuro-oncology Fellowship. He is also a member of the PNA Scientific Advisory Board. Dr. Lillehei earned his B.S. at Cornell University in New York, and his medical degree at the University of Minnesota. He did an internship and his residency at the University of Michigan Hospitals and Health Centers Program. He was kind enough to answer a few questions from the PNA. His answers follow.

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PNA Medical Corner: Pituitary Adenoma and Stereotactic Radiosurgery

This month the PNA Medical Corner showcases an article in the journal Neurosurgery co-authored by neurosurgeon Dr. Jason Sheehan at the University of Virginia Charlottesville, which looks at Nonfunctional Pituitary Adenoma Treated with Stereotactic Radiosurgery

Link: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37437306/

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Featured News and Updates

The FDA has approved NGENLA (somatrogon-ghla)

The FDA has approved NGENLA (somatrogon-ghla), a once-weekly, human growth hormone analog indicated for treatment of pediatric patients aged three years and older who have growth failure due to an inadequate secretion of endogenous growth hormone.

See the Press Release here>

News Articles September 2025

News Articles September 2025

Community remembers young pituitary patient with a fundraiser, scholarship

An article in the Utica Observer Dispatch tells the story of a fifth grader named Olivia Sacco, who passed away last year from septo-optic dysplasia. Her condition meant she was born with an underdeveloped pituitary gland and had to be on hormone replacement for her entire young life. Recently the community held a lemonade stand to raise money for a scholarship in her honor. Read more here: https://www.uticaod.com/story/news/local/2025/08/26/olivias-memory-lives-on-in-hearts-of-community/85834655007/

 South Korean government cracks down on misuse of growth hormone

South Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has launched an investigation into medical providers and pharmacies to crack down on misuse of growth hormones. Specifically, they are hoping to curb prescriptions of hormones and steroids given with promises to increase a child’s height or improve muscle mass. Read more: https://biz.chosun.com/en/en-science/2025/08/25/BMBNGXXUGRBJ3FK5KMDNMZEJMY/

Patient Story: 20-year-old pituitary tumor survivor races for a cure

A young woman in the UK is doing the Walk of Hope to raise money for brain tumor research. Esme Smith was first diagnosed at 11 years old with a golf ball-sized craniopharyngioma and successfully underwent surgery the following year. Read  more: https://www.inyourarea.co.uk/news/hampshire-brain-tumour-survivor-takes-on-25-5-mile-challenge-to-find-a-cure

Brain tumor detection: optimized deep learning

A study published on the website Nature.com looks at optimized deep learning for brain tumor detection.  The authors explore a hybrid approach with “VGG16, an attention mechanism, and optimized hyperparameters to classify brain tumors into different categories as glioma, meningioma, pituitary tumor, and no tumor”. Read more: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-04591-3#Sec18

Research Articles

September 2025 Research Articles

Pituitary Tumors

Long-term behaviour of non-functioning pituitary microadenomas: experience from a tertiary care centre in Romania.

Iftimie ME, Burcea IF, Dobre R, Pigni S, Prodam F, Poiană C.Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2025 Aug 11;16:1613239. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2025.1613239. eCollection 2025.

 

Clinical characteristics and surgical approach for pituitary granular cell tumors: a case series of six patients and literature review.

Liu J, Zhang W, Huang Q, Ye X, Huang G.Front Oncol. 2025 Aug 11;15:1490783. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1490783. eCollection 2025.

 

Autoimmune thyroid disease and pituitary adenoma in a female patient with 18p deletion syndrome: a case report and review of the literature.

Ye J, Shu Y, Wang M, Luo H, Liang W, Lu Q, Mei W, Deng J.BMC Endocr Disord. 2025 Aug 25;25(1):199. doi: 10.1186/s12902-025-02017-9.

 

Prospectively assessed hypothalamic-pituitary dysfunction after proton therapy in adults with head and neck, skull base and brain tumors.

Bouter J, Azemar N, Vela A, Dutheil P, Lesueur P, Stefan D, Reznik Y, Thariat J.Sci Rep. 2025 Aug 24;15(1):31085. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-16960-z.

 

Pituitary Surgery

Alterations of Brain Structural and Functional Connectivity Networks and Its Correlations With Cognitive Function in Patients With Hypothalamic Syndrome Following Craniopharyngioma Resection.

Li S, Ma J, Tong Z, Jiang H, Li L, Zhang Y.Brain Behav. 2025 Aug;15(8):e70730. doi: 10.1002/brb3.70730.

 

Isolated syndrome of inappropriate antidiuresis (SIAD) after Transphenoidal surgery of a non-functioning pituitary adenoma: clinical case report.

Quilismal N, Risso M, Agüero P, Lima R, Garagorry F, Centurion D, Pineyro MM.Oxf Med Case Reports. 2025 Aug 25;2025(8):omaf152. doi: 10.1093/omcr/omaf152. eCollection 2025 Aug.

 

Diagnostics

A Web-Deployed, Explainable AI System for Comprehensive Brain Tumor Diagnosis.

Aksoy S, Demircioglu P, Bogrekci I.Neurol Int. 2025 Aug 4;17(8):121. doi: 10.3390/neurolint17080121.


Machine learning-based models and radiomics: can they be reliable predictors for meningioma recurrence? A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Niroomand B, Mohammadzadeh I, Hajikarimloo B, Habibi MA, Mohammadzadeh S, Bahri AM, Bagheri MH, Albakr A, Karmur BS, Borghei-Razavi H.Neurosurg Rev. 2025 Aug 27;48(1):623. doi: 10.1007/s10143-025-03744-2.


From Detection to Diagnosis: An Advanced Transfer Learning Pipeline Using YOLO11 with Morphological Post-Processing for Brain Tumor Analysis for MRI Images.

Chourib I.J Imaging. 2025 Aug 21;11(8):282. doi: 10.3390/jimaging11080282.

 

Hormonal Health
Oxytocin, Vasopressin and Stress: A Hormetic Perspective.

Nazarloo HP, Kingsbury MA, Lamont H, Dale CV, Nazarloo P, Davis JM, Porges EC, Cuffe SP, Carter CS.Curr Issues Mol Biol. 2025 Aug 7;47(8):632. doi: 10.3390/cimb47080632.

 

Acromegaly

Stereotactic Radiosurgery and Fractionated Stereotactic Radiotherapy With a Linear Accelerator (LINAC) for Acromegaly Remission: Clinical Experience From a Tertiary Neurological Center in Latin America.

Santos-Santos RI, Flores-Vázquez JG, Rodriguez-Hernandez LA, Fuentes-Calvo I, Rodríguez-Hernández IA, Mateo Nouel EJ, Villanueva-Castro E, Muñuzuri-Camacho MA, Palacios-Rodríguez RA, Wong-Achi X, Villalobos-Díaz R, Moncada-Habib T, Moreno-Jiménez S, Gutierrez-Aceves GA, Portocarrero-Ortiz LA.Cureus. 2025 Jul 24;17(7):e88708. doi: 10.7759/cureus.88708. eCollection 2025 Jul.

Cushing’s

Relapse of Cyclic Cushing Syndrome With a 19-Year Remission: Potential Involvement of COVID-19 in the Relapse.

Takayama K, Mukai K, Motoda S, Ose N, Obata Y, Shimomura I.JCEM Case Rep. 2025 Aug 22;3(10):luaf189. doi: 10.1210/jcemcr/luaf189. eCollection 2025 Oct.

 

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