PNA Highlights October 2022

A wise man should consider that health is the greatest of human blessings, and learn how by his own thought to derive benefit from his illnesses.

-Hippocrates

PNA Spotlight: Dr. Ravi H. Gandhi

This month the PNA spotlight shines on Dr. Ravi H. Gandhi, neurosurgeon at AdventHealth Neuroscience Institute of Orlando Neurosurgery – Winter Park where he serves as Medical Director. Dr. Gandhi attended Johns Hopkins University from 1998-2001 and Saint George’s University School of Medicine from 2002-2006, His Internship, Residency, and Fellowship was at Albany Medical Center from 2006-2013. Dr. Gandhi’s profile can be seen here. He is certified by the American Board of Neurological Surgery. Dr. Gandhi answered some questions from the PNA. Here are his answers.

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PNA Medical Corner: Minimally Invasive Endoscopic Surgery

This month the PNA Medical corner spotlights a study co-authored by a member of the PNA, Dr. James J Evans. The study found that endoscopic surgery is effective and minimally invasive for children with skull base pathologies like pituitary tumors.

Link: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36206699/

Minimally invasive endoscopic approaches to pediatric skull base pathologies

Siyuan Yu 1, Michael Karsy 2, Giyapuram N Prashant 2, Blair Barton 3, Marc R Rosen 4, William Parkes 5, James J Evans 4

PMID: 36206699 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijporl.2022.111332

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Magnolia

Please click on image above to contact Simon Howe.

PATHFNDR

Investigational Studies to Evaluate the Safety and Efficacy of Paltusotine in Patients with Acromegaly
The PATHFNDR studies are recruiting patients to participate in clinical research for once-daily paltusotine for the treatment of acromegaly. If the studies are successful, paltusotine could be approved as a ONCE-DAILY, ORAL treatment option that gives patients an alternative to injections or twice-daily oral medications.

As a study participant, you could play an important role in advancing the options available for acromegaly treatment for yourself and many others living with this rare disease.

ABOUT THE STUDIES

The purpose of the PATHFNDR studies is to see if Crinetics Pharmaceutical's investigational medication, paltusotine, is safe and effective in patients with acromegaly.

PATHFNDR-1 is a randomized, placebo-controlled study designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of paltusotine in
subjects with acromegaly treated with somatostatin receptor ligand (SRL) based treatment regimens. Clinicaltrials.gov

PATHFNDR-2 is a randomized, placebo-controlled study designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of paltusotine in
subjects with non-pharmacologically treated acromegaly. Clinicaltrials.gov

See if you may qualify

1(855) 848-8486

Featured News and Updates

News Articles September 2022

Mother Fights to Get School Staff Trained on Pituitary Injections

A mother in the U-K is working to get training for staff at her daughter’s school, so they can give her an emergency injection. The girl suffers from panhypopituitarism and may require a hydrocortisone injection in an emergency situation. But the school will not authorize it staff to administer an intramuscular injection without proper training. Liability issues are at the heart of the matter. Now the mother is petitioning the government to step in. Read more:

Signs of a Hormonal Imbalance

An article in Health Digest gives an exhaustive rundown of all the possible signs of a hormonal imbalance, including unusual body odor. Read more:

Cushing’s and Job Stress: A Personal Story

Paris Dancy’s latest column in Cushing’s Disease News follows his career struggles as he battled Cushing’s. Read more:

A Mother Uses Positive Affirmation Chants to Help Daughter with Pituitary Issues

A story on the Upworthy website tells the story of a mother who chants positive affirmation to her young daughter, who is blind and has an underdeveloped pituitary. Read more:

Patient story: Teen Excels in School Despite Pituitary Tumor

A story in the Derbyshire Times follows the case of a teen girl there named Deeti Wren, who underwent surgery for a pituitary brain tumor, and carried on with her studies anyway, managing to take her GSCE’s despite the health troubles. Read more:

FSH, Obesity, and Breast Cancer

Researchers at the University at Buffalo and the University of Arizona are studying the role of Follicle-Stimulating Hormone (FSH) in obesity. Obesity is a risk factor for breast cancer, so they are looking for a through-line from obesity to excess FSH to breast cancer. Read more:

Research Articles

September 2022 Research Articles

Pituitary Surgery

Endoscopic pituitary surgery: A national database review.

Factors Influencing Cerebrospinal Fluid Leaking following Pituitary Adenoma Transsphenoidal Surgery: A Meta-Analysis and Comprehensive Review.

Pituitary Tumors

Simultaneous Increase in Serum Levels of IL-37 and IL-18 Binding Protein In Low-Grade and High-Grade Brain Tumors.

Predicting hypogonadotropic hypogonadism persistence in male macroprolactinoma.

A Hybrid Approach Based on Deep CNN and Machine Learning Classifiers for the Tumor Segmentation and Classification in Brain MRI.

A Case Report of a Thyrotropin-Secreting Pituitary Macroadenoma.

Analysis of neuroendoscopy for the treatment of macroadenomas and giant pituitary adenomas.

Cost-effectiveness of direct surgery versus preoperative octreotide therapy for growth-hormone secreting pituitary adenomas.

Whole exome sequencing reveals novel risk genes of pituitary neuroendocrine tumors.

Aggressive pituitary tumours and carcinomas, characteristics and management of 171 patients.

Quality reporting of radiomics analysis in pituitary adenomas: Promoting clinical translation.

Foster Kennedy syndrome secondary to a giant prolactinoma with a remarkable response to cabergoline.

Treatment of Prolactinoma.

Multi-Modal Brain Tumor Detection Using Deep Neural Network and Multiclass SVM.

Hyperprolactinemia Associated with Attentional Processing and Interference Control Impairments in Patients with Prolactinomas.

Prediction of Higher Ki-67 Index in Pituitary Adenomas by Pre- and Intra-Operative Clinical Characteristics.

A patient with an ectopic sphenoid bone TSH secretory adenoma: Case report and review of the literature.

Cushing’s

Cushing’s disease: adrenal steroidogenesis inhibitors.

Pituicytoma Associated with Suspected Cushing’s Disease: Two Case Reports and a Literature Review.

Impaired quality of life, but not cognition, is linked to a history of chronic hypercortisolism in patients with Cushing’s disease in remission.

Endocrinology

A Radiomics-Based Model with the Potential to Differentiate Growth Hormone Deficiency and Idiopathic Short Stature on Sella MRI.

[Isolated ACTH deficiency clinically presented as stiff-person syndrome, successfully treated by hormonal replacement: a case report].

McCune-Albright Syndrome in Infant with Growth Hormone Excess.

Testosterone Deficiency as One of the Major Endocrine Disorders in Chronic Kidney Disease.

IL-10 Gene Rs1800871, Rs1800872, and Rs1800896 Polymorphisms and IL-10 Serum Levels Association with Pituitary Adenoma.

MRI Findings of Pituitary Gland in Growth Hormone-Deficient Children and Their Correlation with Growth Hormone Peak during Growth Hormone Stimulation Tests.

Hypothyroidism and Depression: A Narrative Review.

Pituitary Apoplexy

Pituitary apoplexy presenting as isolated third cranial nerve palsy: case series.

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