Background: Non-functioning pituitary adenomas have been treated by gross total resection with the microscopic transsphenoidal approach being the standard for decades. Recently, the endoscope has been utilized as alternative with its possible advantages and disadvantages. Methods: In this study, the authors retrospectively reviewed 58 cases who underwent transsphenoidal non-functioning pituitary adenomas resection, 25 via the microscopic approach (group 1) and 33 via the endoscopic approach (group 2). Different aspects of the procedures were compared, including duration of surgery, incidence of post-operative cerebrospinal fluid leak (being one of the common complications after such procedures), length of hospital stay postoperatively, and most importantly the tumor volume reduction being measured in a novel method by creating a computer-generated threedimensional reconstruction of the tumor. Results: The length of hospital stay for group 1 ranged from 2 to 9 days (mean 3.6 days, SD 2.141) while in group 2, it ranged from 2 to 7 days (mean 3.727 days, SD 1.008). Operative time mean was 92.7 min in group 1 and 142.79 min in group 2. Intraoperative CSF leak was encountered in 40% (n = 10) of the cases in group 1 and in five cases (15.2%) from group 2. Volume reduction percentage had a mean of 82.4% in group 1 and 89.1% in group 2. Although the mean of volume reduction percentage was higher in group 2, yet this difference was found to be statistically insignificant with a p value of 0.141.Conclusion: Endoscopic approach showed superiority by having lower incidence of post-operative cerebrospinal fluid leak, length of hospital stay, and tumor volume reduction while the microscopic approach was only favored in having shorter mean duration of surgery.

Background: T1DM is considered as the most common chronic metabolic autoimmune disorder in childhood and adolescence as well as in the early adulthood. It appears frequently during 12- 13 years of age with distinctive features like immune-mediated chronic damage of pancreatic β-cells, leading eventually to partial, or mostly, absolute insulin deficiency. Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) is a polypeptide consisting of 70 amino acids with insulin-like chemical structure. In most cases, IGF-1 is a reliable growth marker and an anabolic one in adults. It plays an important role in the regulation of various physiological functions, e.g., glucose metabolism, cell survival and proliferation. Objective: To compare the levels of IGF-1 in children having type-1 diabetes with that of healthy controls and also to determine whether there is a relationship between IGF-1 and physical features in T1DM. Patients and Methods: The current study was conducted on 85 children of both sexes. Seventy patients were less than 12 years old with T1DMselected according to ADA 2014 criteria for diagnosis of diabetes from pediatric diabetes clinic at Ain Shams University hospital. All patients were divided into 2 groups based on the duration of diabetes to T1DM>1year duration and T1DM < 1year duration and they were compared with fifteen normal children, attending the pediatric general clinics as a control group. Measurements of height, weight, and arm span, upper body segment, lower body segment, and body mass index, parents’ height beside Fasting blood glucose, HbA1C, IGF-1, FSH, and LH were noted. Results: Height percentile significantly higher inT1DM less than 1 year median 50 (10 to 75) than T1DM more than one year (median10 (3 to 44) p-value 0.007). IGF-1 level in the group of T1DM less than 1year median 90 (70 to 110) (ng/ml) was significantly lower than other groups (p-value 0.0008). IGF1 has a significant positive relation with Aram span in group T1DM more than 1year (p-value 0.024), positive significant relationship between mother height and IGF-1 level in group T1DM less than 1 year (p-value 0.013). Conclusion: IGF-1 level is reduced by the recent onset of T1DM but still it has some effect on the somatic features even in the presence of longstanding diabetes.

Background and Aims: Women who develop GDM (gestational diabetes mellitus) have a relative insulin secretion deficiency, the severity of which may be predictive for later development of diabetes. This study aimed to investigate the role of fasting plasma glucagon in the prediction of later development of diabetes in pregnant women with GDM. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted on 150 pregnant women with GDM after giving informed oral and written consents and being approved by the research ethical committee according to the declaration of Helsinki. The study was conducted in two phases, first phase during pregnancy and the second one was 6 months post-partum, as we measured fasting plasma glucagon before and after delivery together with fasting and 2 hour post-prandial plasma sugar. Results: Our findings suggested that glucagon levels significantly increased after delivery in the majority 14/25 (56%) of GDM women who developed type 2 DM within 6 months after delivery compared to 6/20 (30%) patients with impaired fasting plasma glucose (IFG) and only 22/105 (20%) non DM women, as the median glucagon levels were 80,76, 55, respectively. Also, there was a high statistical difference between fasting plasma glucagon post-delivery among diabetic and non-diabetic women (p ≤ 0.001). These results indicated the useful role of assessing fasting plasma glucagon before and after delivery in patients with GDM to predict the possibility of type 2 DM. Conclusion: There is a relatively high glucagon level in GDM patients, which is a significant pathogenic factor in the incidence of subsequent diabetes in women with a history of GDM. This could be important in the design of follow-up programs for women with previous GDM.

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