The way you think, the way you behave, the way you eat, can influence your life by 30 to 50 years.

-Deepak Chopra

 

PNA Spotlight: Dr. Manish Aghi

This month the PNA Spotlight focuses on Dr. Manish K. Aghi.Dr. Manish Aghi is a neurosurgeon specializing in brain tumors at UCSF Medical Center. He cares for adult patients with a wide range of conditions, including astrocytomas and anaplastic astrocytomas, oligodendrogliomas, glioblastomas, meningiomas and pituitary adenomas. As principal investigator at the UCSF Brain Tumor Research Center, his interests include glioblastoma angiogenesis, mechanisms of glioblastoma resistance to anti-angiogenic therapy and experimental glioblastoma therapies such as cancer-killing viruses.
Professor Aghi earned his medical degree and a doctoral degree in neurosciences from Harvard Medical School. He completed a residency in neurosurgery at Massachusetts General Hospital. He is a member of the Society for Neuro-Oncology, American Association of Neurological Surgeons, Congress of Neurological Surgeons and Pituitary Network Association. Among his honors are the Preuss and Mahaley awards from the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, and the Ronald L. Bittner Award, Synthes Skull Base Award and Integra Foundation Award from the Congress of Neurological Surgeons.
His answers follow.

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PNA Medical Corner: Pituitary Centers of Excellence

This month the PNA Medical Corner focuses on an article co-authored by several members and colleagues of the PNA: Drs. Chanson, Kaiser, Laws, van der Lely, and Melmed. It addresses a topic that PNA has sought to promote for decades: the designation of Pituitary Centers of Excellence, where patients can get highly specialized care

Link: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37640885/

Pilot study to define criteria for Pituitary Tumors Centers of Excellence (PTCOE): results of an audit of leading international centers

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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 April 2025

Pituitary journey: woman learns to slow down while facing melanoma, pituitary inflammation

Blogger Amanda Goodwin is a hard-charging businesswoman, who was forced to slow down and “embrace the sick” as she battled melanoma in her lungs, liver and brain, and suffered from inflammation of the pituitary. Read more here: https://substack.com/home/post/p-156259244?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

 

Study: Cushing’s patients develop cataracts at younger ages

An article in Cushing’s Disease News examines a study published in Graefe’s Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology, that finds that Cushing’s patients are at higher risk of developing cataracts at a younger age compared to non-Cushing’s patients.  They developed them at an average age of 48.1. Patients with Cushing’s Syndrome “being 34% more likely to develop cataracts than the general population. For those with Cushing’s disease, the risk was 39% higher.” Read more: https://cushingsdiseasenews.com/news/cushings-patients-higher-risk-developing-cataracts-younger-age/

 

Pituitary Journey: British celebrity astrologer recounts battle with pituitary tumor

Russell Grant, a celebrity astrologer in the U.K. who competed on the show “Strictly Come Dancing” recounts his battle with a pituitary tumor, diabetes, and now vision issues. Read more: https://tinyurl.com/44zujvkm

Houston Hospital gets $2 million in donations for pituitary research

Houston Methodist hospital announced it has commitments to receive 2 million dollars to support its Kenneth R. Peak Brain & Pituitary Treatment Center. $1.5 million comes from the Henry J.N. Taub Foundation and is paired with an anonymous $500,000 donation. Read more: https://philanthropynewsdigest.org/news/houston-methodist-receives-1.5-million-for-brain-pituitary-research

Research Articles

April 2025 Research Articles

Pituitary Surgery

Indocyanine green fluorescence in endoscopic transsphenoidal resection of pituitary neuroendocrine tumors: a systematic review.

Olesrud I, Halvorsen IJ, Storaker MA, Heck A, Dahlberg D, Wiedmann MKH.Acta Neurochir (Wien). 2025 Mar 28;167(1):92. doi: 10.1007/s00701-025-06500-z.


Extended endoscopic endonasal approach for solid or predominantly solid third ventricle craniopharyngiomas complicated with obstructive hydrocephalus: a single-center experience of 27 patients.

Qiao N, Li C, Liu X, Song Y, Liang L, Zou Y, Lu P, Zhang Y, Gui S.Neurosurg Rev. 2025 Mar 26;48(1):325. doi: 10.1007/s10143-025-03486-1.

 

Transsphenoidal Surgery for Pituitary Neuroendocrine Tumours (PiTNETs) in a Tertiary Hospital: Are There Differences Between Young and Elderly Patients?

Borrego-Soriano I, Parra-Ramírez P, Martín-Rojas-Marcos P, Pérez-López C, García-Feijoo P, Álvarez-Escolá C.Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 2025 Mar 24. doi: 10.1111/cen.15242. Online ahead of print.PMID: 40129236

 

Pituitary Tumors


Fungal Sinusitis Spreading to the Sellar Region Mimicking a Pituitary Tumor: Case Report and Literature Review.

Pekic Djurdjevic S, Arsic Arsenijevic V.J Fungi (Basel). 2025 Mar 19;11(3):233. doi: 10.3390/jof11030233.

 

Functional Transformation of a Corticotroph Pituitary Neuroendocrine Tumor 128 Months Following Primary Excision ? A Case Report.

Goyal-Honavar A, Abraham AP, Asha HS, Chacko G, Chacko AG.Turk Neurosurg. 2025;35(2):355-359. doi: 10.5137/1019-5149.JTN.44912-23.2

 

Genetic Characterization of Turkish Patients with Pituitary Neuroendocrine Tumors.

Alavanda C, Sonmez O, Geckinli BB, Bayrakli F, Guney AI.Turk Neurosurg. 2025;35(2):319-320. doi: 10.5137/1019-5149.JTN.45761-23.2.

 

 

Empty Sella

 

Relationship Between Radiological Features of Primary Empty or Primary Partial Empty Sella and Pituitary Hormone Levels.

Kałuża B, Furmanek M, Domański J, Żuk-Łapan A, Babula E, Poprawa I, Walecki J, Franek E.Biomedicines. 2025 Mar 15;13(3):722. doi: 10.3390/biomedicines13030722.

 

Acromegaly

 

Copeptin and Mid-Regional Proadrenomedullin Are Not Useful Biomarkers of Cardiometabolic Disease in Patients with Acromegaly-A Preliminary Study.

Strzelec M, Kubicka E, Kuliczkowska-Płaksej J, Kolačkov K, Janek Ł, Bolanowski M, Jawiarczyk-Przybyłowska A.Biomedicines. 2025 Mar 8;13(3):666. doi: 10.3390/biomedicines13030666.

 

Hypopituitarism


Identification of POU1F1 Variants in Vietnamese Patients with Combined Pituitary Hormone Deficiency.

Nguyen HT, Nguyen KN, Dien TM, Can TBN, Nguyen TTN, Lien NTK, Tung NV, Xuan NT, Tao NT, Nguyen NL, Tran VK, Mai TTC, Tran VA, Nguyen HH, Vu CD.Int J Mol Sci. 2025 Mar 7;26(6):2406. doi: 10.3390/ijms26062406.


Hypopituitarism: genetic, developmental, and acquired etiologies with a focus on the emerging concept of autoimmune hypophysitis.

Bando H, Urai S, Kanie K, Yamamoto M.Endocr J. 2025 Mar 27. doi: 10.1507/endocrj.EJ25-0035. Online ahead of print.

 

Hormonal Health

A Novel Missense Variant in LHX4 in Three Children with Multiple Pituitary Hormone Deficiency Belonging to Two Unrelated Families and Contribution of Additional GLI2 and IGFR1 Variant.

Santoro C, Aiello F, Farina A, Miraglia Del Giudice E, Pascarella F, Licenziati MR, Improda N, Piluso G, Torella A, Del Vecchio Blanco F, Cirillo M, Nigro V, Grandone A.Children (Basel). 2025 Mar 14;12(3):364. doi: 10.3390/children12030364.

 

Hyperprolactinemia is associated with height attainment within or above target height in adult patients with pituitary stalk interruption syndrome.

Wang Y, Mao J, Wang X, Nie M, Zhang J, Zhang W, Liu H, Xu Z, Wu X.Endocr Pract. 2025 Mar 25:S1530-891X(25)00095-3. doi: 10.1016/j.eprac.2025.03.010. Online ahead of print.

 

Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia Type 1 (MEN1) Syndrome Clinical Presentation and the Role of Newer Functional Imaging in the Diagnosis and Management: A Case Report.

Singh R, Goel SA, Singh JS, John DR, Suthar PP.Cureus. 2025 Feb 24;17(2):e79580. doi: 10.7759/cureus.79580. eCollection 2025 Feb.

 

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