ABSTRACT
Introduction: Patients with glioma (GM) are at a high risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE). The role of microvesiculation in the cancer-associated thrombosis mechanisms has been previously demonstrated. This study aimed to evaluate the relative abundance of extracellular vesicles (EVs) and thrombin generation (TG) in combination with standard laboratory tests in patients with newly diagnosed GM as potential prognostic markers in VTE. Materials and Methods: In the present study, 11 patients with newly diagnosed GM and 10 healthy volunteers were analyzed. EVs were counted and their cellular origin was determined (CytoFlex B4-R2-V2, Beckman Coulter, United States), as well as thrombin generation test (TGT) (Diagnostica Stago SAS, France) was performed. Results: In patients with GM, the relative abundance of the CD41 + EVs (platelet-derived)-and CD105 + EVs (endothelial-derived) was significantly higher than in the control group (44.3 [40.5; 52.4] vs. 27.2 [22.9; 31.0]%, p = 0.002, and 5.4 [4.8; 7.8] vs. 1.9 [1.5; 2.8]%, p = 0.0003, respectively). The D-dimer level was higher in patients with GM compared with the control group (0.46 [0.38; 1.85] vs. 0.36 [0.27; 0.40] µg/ml FEU, p = 0.03, respectively). There was a trend toward an increase in the peak thrombin and velocity index (VI) in the GM group (p = 0.06). During the follow-up period, two patients (18%) developed thrombosis, had tumor sizes of more than 5 cm, thrombocytopenia, increased VI, and D-dimer. Conclusion: Analysis of platelet-derived EVs, platelet count, and TGT in combination with D-dimer assessment could improve the stratification of patients prone to VTE, which needs to be confirmed in a larger sample.
ABSTRACT
Persistent and recurrent hypercortisolism after transsphenoidal endoscopic surgery (TSS) is considered to be an urgent issue prompting the search for Cushing's disease (CD) remission predictors. The goal was to find a combination of predictors that can forecast the remission of CD after TSS. A total of 101 patients with CD who had undergone TSS were included. One year after surgery, CD remission status was evaluated. Preoperative pituitary magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data, preoperative results of a high-dose dexamethasone suppression test (HDDST) and morning serum cortisol level collected 24 h after TSS (24 h MSeC) were compared in patients with and without remission of hypercortisolism. Remission one year after TSS was confirmed in 63 patients. CD remission predictors one year after TSS were: adenoma size ≥ 3 mm in the absence of invasive growth and the suppression of serum cortisol ≥ 74% in the HDDST, 24 h MSeC ≤ 388 nmol/L. A total of 38 patients had three favorable values of detected predictors; all of them had CD remission one year after TSS. With long-term follow-up, 36 of them remained in remission. Patients who had no one favorable predictor had no remission of hypercortisolism one year after TSS. Our data confirmed the prospects of using a combination of selected predictors to forecast CD remission after TSS.
