Cheerfulness is the best promoter of health and is as friendly to the mind as to the body
-Joseph Addison
PNA Spotlight: Dr. Brian Williams
This month the PNA Spotlight focuses on Dr. Brian Williams, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Louisville, where he leads the Division of Neurosurgical Oncology, Skull Base Surgery and Pituitary Surgery. Dr. Williams earned his medical degree from the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. He did a residency in neurological surgery at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, followed by a fellowship in Neurosurgical Oncology at MD Anderson Hospital in Houston. He also pursued specialty training in cerebrovascular and skull base surgery at the Auckland City Hospital in New Zealand. He was kind enough to answer some questions from the PNA. His answers are below
Dr. Brian Williams
PNA Medical Corner: Otolaryngology Pioneers of Transsphenoidal Surgery
This month the PNA Medical Corner focuses on an article co-authored by Dr. Edward Laws, a longtime member of the PNA. The research looks at the considerable impact two early otolaryngologists, Markus Hajek and Oskar Hirsch, had in developing endonasal transsphenoidal pituitary surgery.
Dr. Edward Laws
Featured News and Updates
News Articles November 2025
News Articles November 2025
Case report: from pituitary tumor to metastatic cancer
An article on Cureus.com looks at the case of a 35-year-old man with a lactrotroph pituitary adenoma that progressed to a metastatic pituitary carcinoma. In this rare case, the cancer is “resistant to surgery, radiation, and medical treatments.“ Read more: https://www.cureus.com/articles/348490-transformation-of-lactotroph-pituitary-adenoma-to-metastatic-pituitary-carcinoma-a-case-report#!/
Patient story: Musician Lou Gramm on his battle with a pituitary tumor
An article on blabbermouth.net features the pituitary story of musician Lou Gramm of the group “Foreigner”, who had surgery for a craniopharyngioma in 1997 after suffering headaches and memory loss. Read more: https://blabbermouth.net/news/lou-gramm-says-he-couldnt-remember-the-words-to-foreigners-classic-songs-shortly-after-his-brain-surgery
Researchers use artificial intelligence to screen for childhood hormone deficiency
An article in EMJ Reviews looks at a study on whether artificial intelligence can predict growth hormone deficiency in children of short stature. The machine learning model examines MRI scans of the pituitary and has shown good results. In the future, this could lead doctors to order fewer invasive growth hormone stimulation tests for children. Read more: https://www.emjreviews.com/en-us/amj/radiology/news/mri-radiomics-model-predicts-childhood-hormone-deficiency/
Patient on off-label cabergoline develops impulse control disorder as tumor grows
An study in Cureus.com examines the case of a 19-year-old man with a prolactinoma who was given off-label cabergoline at three times the normal dose for ten years. He developed an impulse control disorder and a spending and gambling problem, and was lost to follow-up. Radiosurgery was rejected, as the patient was deemed unable to comply with the necessary follow-up regime. It was later discovered that his tumor was resistant to cabergoline and had grown and extended into the cavernous sinus, making it inoperable. Read more: https://www.cureus.com/articles/416467-giant-prolactinoma-resistant-to-high-dose-cabergoline-in-a-young-male-lost-to-follow-up#!/
Research Articles
November 2025 Research Articles
Pituitary tumors
Zhang B, Zhang J, Li Z, Sheng H, Li H, Lu Y, Liu X, Xu Z, Huang Y, Zhu C, Wen Y, He X, Zhang L.Neuro Oncol. 2025 Oct 24:noaf249. doi: 10.1093/neuonc/noaf249. Online ahead of print.
Patel V, Aboud O, Barakat A.Int J Mol Sci. 2025 Oct 16;26(20):10065. doi: 10.3390/ijms262010065.
Pituitary surgery
Global Growth and Distribution of CyberKnife Stereotactic Radiosurgery: A Bibliometric Analysis.
Annagiri S, Hori YS, Persad ARL, Ustrzynski L, Emrich SC, Tayag A, Park DJ, Adler JR, Chang SD.Neurosurg Pract. 2025 Jul 10;6(3):e000150. doi: 10.1227/neuprac.0000000000000150. eCollection 2025 Sep.
Imaging
Korbecki A, Łukasiewicz M, Kacała A, Sobański M, Zdanowicz-Ratajczyk A, Szałata K, Dorochowicz M, Korbecka J, Trybek G, Zimny A, Bladowska J.J Clin Med. 2025 Oct 11;14(20):7168. doi: 10.3390/jcm14207168.
Yonar A.Sci Rep. 2025 Oct 28;15(1):37543. doi: 10.1038/s41598-025-23820-3.
Acromegaly
Sun Y, Lu D, Gao J.Drug Discov Ther. 2025 Oct 29. doi: 10.5582/ddt.2025.01109. Online ahead of print.
Stanciu M, Cătană A, Ristea RP, Tanasescu D, Carsote M, Popa FL, Lebădă IC.Diagnostics (Basel). 2025 Oct 17;15(20):2623. doi: 10.3390/diagnostics15202623.
Cushing’s
Three Cases of Ectopic, Cyclic Cushing Syndrome: A New Square Wave Variant.
Martinez-Gil M, Tshimbombu TN, Li Yi Ang Y, Rodriguez MC, Yuen KCJ.JCEM Case Rep. 2025 Oct 28;3(12):luaf176. doi: 10.1210/jcemcr/luaf176. eCollection 2025 Dec.
Selective Hippocampal Subfield Atrophy Mediates Cognitive Decline in Cushing’s Disease.
Feng Z, Zhou T, Yan X, He K, Liu H, Yu X, Lu R, Ma Z, Yu X, Zhang Y.Brain Behav. 2025 Nov;15(11):e71030. doi: 10.1002/brb3.71030.
Hormonal health
Pellegrini B, Cantaluppi V, Aimaretti G, Ferraresso M, Romagnoli J, Silvestre C, Comai G, Maggiore U, Leone F, Greco R, Maggiolini M, Provenzano M, Zaza G; Joint Committee of the Italian Society of Organ Transplantation and the Italian Society of Nephrology.J Endocrinol Invest. 2025 Oct 29. doi: 10.1007/s40618-025-02741-y. Online ahead of print.
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