ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: This study compared Gamma knife radiosurgery (GKRS) and repeated transsphenoidal adenomectomy (TSA) to find the best approach for recurrence of Cushing disease (CD) after unsuccessful first TSA. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Fifty-two patients with relapse of CD after TSA were enrolled and randomly underwent a second surgery or GKRS as the next therapeutic approach. They were followed for a mean period of 3.05 ± 0.8 years by physical examination and hormone measurement as well as magnetic resonance imaging. RESULTS: No significant difference was observed in sex ratio, mean age, adenoma type, follow-up duration, and initial hormone level between the two groups. No significant relationship was found between preoperative 24-hour free urine cortisol and disease-free months or tumor volume among both groups. Our statistical analysis showed higher recurrence-free interval in the GKRS group compared with TSA group. CONCLUSION: With longer recurrence-free interval, GKRS could be considered a good treatment alternative to repeated TSA in recurrent CD.
Subject(s)
Adenoma/surgery , Pituitary ACTH Hypersecretion/surgery , Pituitary Neoplasms/surgery , Sphenoid Bone/surgery , Adenoma/pathology , Adolescent , Adult , Female , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Pituitary ACTH Hypersecretion/pathology , Pituitary Neoplasms/pathology , Radiosurgery , Recurrence , Reoperation , Retrospective Studies , Treatment Outcome , Young AdultABSTRACT
Gamma knife radiosurgery is a minimally invasive procedure which can be used for patients with intractable epilepsies as an alternative for surgical corpus callosotomy. We report a 13-year-old boy with intractable epilepsy who underwent radiosurgical callosotomy. The patient demonstrated significant clinical improvement after gamma knife radiosurgery and was free of seizures 10 months after the procedure. However, He developed four short focal seizures with clonic movements during the 20 months post radiosurgery. Corpus callosotomy decreased epileptiform discharges in both hemispheres, indicating a role for the callosal neurons to facilitate an asymmetric epileptogenic susceptible state within the two hemispheres such that bisynchronous and bisymmetrical epileptiform discharges develop. Our result demonstrates that this novel therapeutic approach is a safe and effective option for the treatment of intractable generalised epilepsies.
