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Pituitary incidentalomas are tumors or mass lesions of the pituitary gland. These are incidentally discovered during imaging studies for symptoms that are not causally related to pituitary diseases. The most common symptom that triggers an examination is headache, and the most common type of pituitary incidentalomas are pituitary neuroendocrine tumors (PitNETs) and Rathke cleft cysts. The existing treatment strategy is controversial; however, surgical resection is recommended in cases of clinically non-functioning PitNETs with optic chiasm compression. In contrast, cystic lesions, such as Rathke cleft cysts, should be followed if the patients are asymptomatic. In this case, MRI and pituitary function tests are recommended every six months to one year; if there is no change, the follow-up period should be extended. The natural history of PitNET is partially known, and the management of pituitary incidentalomas is determined by this history. However, the pathogenesis of PitNET has significantly changed with the new World Health Organization classification, and follow-up is important based on this new classification. Therefore, a high level of evidence-based research is needed to consider treatment guidelines for pituitary incidentalomas in the future.

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OBJECTIVE Quasi-moyamoya disease (QMMD) is moyamoya disease (MMD) associated with additional underlying diseases. Although the ring finger protein 213 (RNF213) c.14576G>A mutation is highly correlated with MMD in the Asian population, its relationship to QMMD is unclear. Therefore, in this study the authors sought to investigate the RNF213 c.14576G>A mutation in the genetic diagnosis and classification of QMMD. METHODS This case-control study was conducted among four core hospitals. A screening system for the RNF213 c.14576G>A mutation based on high-resolution melting curve analysis was designed. The prevalence of RNF213 c.14576G>A was investigated in 76 patients with MMD and 10 patients with QMMD. RESULTS There were no significant differences in age, sex, family history, and mode of onset between the two groups. Underlying diseases presenting in patients with QMMD were hyperthyroidism (n = 6), neurofibromatosis type 1 (n = 2), Sjögren’s syndrome (n = 1), and meningitis (n =1). The RNF213 c.14576G>A mutation was found in 64 patients (84.2%) with MMD and 8 patients (80%) with QMMD; no significant difference in mutation frequency was observed between cohorts. CONCLUSIONS There are two forms of QMMD, one in which the vascular abnormality is associated with an underlying disease, and the other in which MMD is coincidentally complicated by an unrelated underlying disease. It has been suggested that the presence or absence of the RNF213 c.14576G>A mutation may be useful in distinguishing between these disease types.

OBJECTIVEAlthough the association between Chiari malformation (CM) and craniosynostosis is well recognized, management remains controversial. There are differences in the clinical course of CM in syndromic craniosynostosis (SC) patients and nonsyndromic craniosynostosis (NSC) patients. Still unclear is whether cranial expansion surgery, foramen magnum decompression (FMD), or both should be conducted and when the appropriate timing of surgery should be. Here, the authors retrospectively reviewed the clinical data at their institution to investigate the optimal management of CM associated with SC and NSC.METHODSThe authors retrospectively analyzed the clinical records of 163 children with craniosynostosis who underwent surgical treatment at the National Center for Child Health and Development between April 2002 and May 2018.RESULTSTwelve (10%) of 119 children with NSC and 14 (31.8%) of 44 children with SC were radiologically diagnosed with CM. The median age at which CM was radiologically diagnosed was 7 months. Of the 12 NSC patients with CM, 1 (8%) was symptomatic with gait disturbance. This patient underwent FMD following expansion surgery. Of the 14 SC patients with CM, 8 (57.1%) were symptomatic with central sleep apnea. For SC patients with symptomatic CM, cranial expansion surgery alone was conducted in 2 cases, FMD was conducted after cranial expansion in 4 cases, and FMD was conducted first and additional expansion surgery was then conducted in 2 cases. In all cases, symptoms of CM improved after completing this series of surgeries. Regarding patients with asymptomatic CM, cranial expansion surgery alone was performed, and none of the patients showed symptoms of CM thereafter in both SC and NSC cases.CONCLUSIONSMultiple surgeries tend to be necessary for symptomatic CM in both SC and NSC, while no patient with asymptomatic CM became symptomatic after cranial expansion surgery.

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