Tuberculum sellae meningiomas: a systematic review of transcranial approaches in the endoscopic era.

INTRODUCTION: With the advent of skull base endoscopy, tuberculum sellae meningiomas (TSMs) are currently operated both from the traditional transcranial (TC) route as well as the extended endonasal endoscopic trasns-sphenoidal approach (EETS). The aim of this study was to conduct a systematic review of TSMs excised via the TC route in the modern era when the EETS excision is gaining popularity. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: We performed a systematic review in the medical literature following the PRISMA guidelines. A medical librarian retrieved a list of 3443 articles published from 2006-2016 from the Medline, Embase and Cochrane Central databases. Two of the authors independently screened for titles and abstracts and excluded 3340 of them. We reviewed the full text of the remaining 103 articles and included in our analysis 31 that met the following inclusion criteria: 1) 5 or more cases reported; and 2) report of the extent of resection, visual outcomes and complications specifically for TSMs were documented. EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: Thirty-one articles were selected for this systematic review with a total number of 983 patients with TSM. The mean age was 54.1±4.6 years, 75% of them being female. The follow-up was 43.9±20.7 months. The mean tumor diameter was 27.8±4.9 mm. Gross total resection was achieved in 84% while subtotal or near total resection was 14%. Vision improved, worsened and remained unchanged in 65.5%, 10.4%, and 24.7% respectively. The CSF leak rate was 3.4%. Transient or permanent pituitary dysfunction was reported in 6.9% of patients. There was a vascular injury in 5.1% of the patients with the majority (4.3%) being symptomatic. The recurrence rate was 3.8% and mortality 1.1%. CONCLUSIONS: In the past decade, the ETTS excision of TSMs has gained popularity and in some centers has become the approach of choice. However the TC route still remains the most common approach for most TSMs meningiomas and for the majority of neurosurgeons. The evolution of transcranial surgery including the use of minimally invasive techniques, such as endoscope-assisted transcranial resection are associated with relatively high resection rates and improved visual outcomes with low morbidity and mortality. A direct comparison with TS approaches was not done for the purpose of this review analysis. Given the limited availability and heterogeneity of comparative observational studies, a meta-analysis was deemed inappropriate.

Oxidative stress improves coronary endothelial function through activation of the pro-survival kinase AMPK.

Age-associated decline in cardiovascular function is believed to occur from the deleterious effects of reactive oxygen species (ROS). However, failure of recent clinical trials using antioxidants in patients with cardiovascular disease, and the recent findings showing paradoxical role for NADPH oxidase-derived ROS in endothelial function challenge this long-held notion against ROS. Here, we examine the effects of endothelium-specific conditional increase in ROS on coronary endothelial function. We have generated a novel binary (Tet-ON/OFF) conditional transgenic mouse (Tet-Nox2:VE-Cad-tTA) that induces endothelial cell (EC)-specific overexpression of Nox2/gp91 (NADPH oxidase) and 1.8?0.42-fold increase in EC-ROS upon tetracycline withdrawal (Tet-OFF). We examined ROS effects on EC signaling and function. First, we demonstrate that endothelium-dependent coronary vasodilation was significantly improved in Tet-OFF Nox2 compared to Tet-ON (control) littermates. Using EC isolated from mouse heart, we show that endogenous ROS increased eNOS activation and nitric oxide (NO) synthesis through activation of the survival kinase AMPK. Coronary vasodilation in Tet-OFF Nox2 animals was CaMKK?-AMPK-dependent. Finally, we demonstrate that AMPK activation induced autophagy and thus, protected ECs from oxidant-induced cell death. Together, these findings suggest that increased ROS levels, often associated with cardiovascular conditions in advanced age, play a protective role in endothelial homeostasis by inducing AMPK-eNOS axis.