At the long-term follow-up, 12% of patients had recurrent tumors after grossly complete resection. Recurrent or residual tumors were treated with either repeat surgery or Gamma Knife radiosurgery. Rates of complete resection, postoperative surgical and endocrinological complications, and additional surgical procedures are similar to previously published reports after microscopic transsphenoidal surgery.

The TRAMs present a novel model-independent approach providing efficient separation between tumor/nontumor tissues by adding a short MRI scan >1 h post contrast injection. The methodology uses robust acquisition sequences, providing high resolution and easy to interpret maps with minimal sensitivity to susceptibility artifacts. The presented results provide histological validation of the TRAMs and demonstrate their potential contribution to the management of brain tumor patients.

OBJECTIVE Many centers use conventional and dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DMRI) sequences in patients with Cushing's disease. The authors assessed the utility of the 3D volumetric interpolated breath-hold examination, a spoiled-gradient echo 3D T1 sequence (SGE) characterized by superior soft tissue contrast and improved resolution, compared with DMRI and conventional MRI (CMRI) for detecting microadenomas in patients with Cushing's disease. METHODS This study was a blinded assessment of pituitary MRI in patients with proven Cushing's disease. Fifty-seven patients who had undergone surgery for Cushing's disease (10 male, 47 female; age range 13-69 years), whose surgical findings were considered to represent a microadenoma, and who had been examined with all 3 imaging techniques were included. Thus, selection emphasized patients with prior negative or equivocal MRI on referral. The MRI annotations were anonymized and 4 separate imaging sets were independently read by 3 blinded, experienced clinicians: a neuroradiologist and 2 pituitary surgeons. RESULTS Forty-eight surgical specimens contained an adenoma (46 ACTH-staining adenomas, 1 prolactinoma, and 1 nonfunctioning microadenoma). DMRI detected 5 adenomas that were not evident on CMRI, SGE detected 8 adenomas not evident on CMRI, including 3 that were not evident on DMRI. One adenoma was detected on DMRI that was not detected on SGE. McNemar's test for efficacy between the different MRI sets for tumor detection showed that the addition of SGE to CMRI increased the number of tumors detected from 18 to 26 (p = 0.02) based on agreement of at least 2 of 3 readers. CONCLUSIONS SGE shows higher sensitivity than DMRI for detecting and localizing pituitary microadenomas, although rarely an adenoma is detected exclusively by DMRI. SGE should be part of the standard MRI protocol for patients with Cushing's disease.

N eurosurgeoNs have traditionally used a sublabial or transseptal incision with an operating microscope to access the sphenoid sinus and sella turcica for the resection of pituitary tumors. 9 Over the past decade, however, the endoscopic endonasal transsphenoidal approach has become an increasingly popular method of removing pituitary tumors and other lesions of the sella. 2,3,7,12,20 Among the arguments proposed for the use of endoscopy for transsphenoidal surgery are that it provides a superior view of the sella and its surrounding structures by allowing panoramic visualization, and it offers improved lighting. Angled endoscopes allow visualization into recesses within the sphenoid sinus and sella that is not offered by the operating microscope. The enhanced visualization during endoscopic procedures theoretically can improve the extent of resection of very large pituitary tumors, in particular those extending laterally or superiorly beyond the direct vision of the operating microscope. On Object. The object of this study was to compare surgical outcomes and complications in a contemporaneous series of patients undergoing either microscopic or endoscopic transsphenoidal surgery for nonfunctioning pituitary macroadenomas without imaging evidence of cavernous sinus invasion.Methods. This is a retrospective analysis of a prospectively collected database from a single institution. Data were collected from patients whose surgery had occurred in the period from June 2010 to January 2013. Patients who underwent microscopic or endoscopic surgery for Knosp Grade 0, 1, or 2 nonfunctioning pituitary macroadenomas were included in the study. Patients who had clinically secreting or Knosp Grade 3 or 4 tumors and patients who were undergoing revision surgery were excluded from analysis. Eligible patient records were analyzed for outcomes and complications. Statistical analyses were performed on tumor volume, intraoperative factors, postoperative complications, and degree of resection on 1-year postoperative MRI. The results were used to compare the outcomes after microscopic and endoscopic approaches.Results. Forty-three patients underwent microscopic transsphenoidal surgery, and 56 underwent endoscopic transsphenoidal surgery. There were no statistical differences in the intraoperative extent of resection or endocrinological complications. There were significantly more intraoperative CSF leaks in the endoscopic group (58% vs 16%); however, there was no difference in the incidence of postoperative CSF rhinorrhea (12% microscopic vs 7% endoscopic). Length of hospitalization was significantly shorter in patients undergoing an endoscopic approach (3.0 days vs 2.4 days). Two-month follow-up imaging was available in 95% of patients, and 75% of patients had 1-year follow-up imaging. At 2 months postprocedure, there was no evidence of residual tumor in 79% (31 of 39) and 85% (47 of 55) of patients in the microscopic and endoscopic groups, respectively. At 1 year postprocedure, 83% (25 of 30) of patients in the microscopic group h...

The current standard of care for newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is resection followed by radiotherapy with concomitant and adjuvant temozolomide. Recent studies suggest that nearly half of the patients with early radiological deterioration post treatment do not suffer from tumor recurrence but from pseudoprogression. Similarly, a significant number of patients with brain metastases suffer from radiation necrosis following radiation treatments. Conventional MRI is currently unable to differentiate tumor progression from treatment-induced effects. The ability to clearly differentiate tumor from non-tumoral tissues is crucial for appropriate patient management. Ten patients with primary brain tumors and 10 patients with brain metastases were scanned by delayed contrast extravasation MRI prior to surgery. Enhancement subtraction maps calculated from high resolution MR images acquired up to 75 min after contrast administration were used for obtaining stereotactic biopsies. Histological assessment was then compared with the pre-surgical calculated maps. In addition, the application of our maps for prediction of progression was studied in a small cohort of 13 newly diagnosed GBM patients undergoing standard chemoradiation and followed up to 19.7 months post therapy. The maps showed two primary enhancement populations: the slow population where contrast clearance from the tissue was slower than contrast accumulation and the fast population where clearance was faster than accumulation. Comparison with histology confirmed the fast population to consist of morphologically active tumor and the slow population to consist of non-tumoral tissues. Our maps demonstrated significant correlation with perfusion-weighted MR data acquired simultaneously, although contradicting examples were shown. Preliminary results suggest that early changes in the fast volumes may serve as a predictor for time to progression. These preliminary results suggest that our high resolution MRI-based delayed enhancement subtraction maps may be applied for clear depiction of tumor and non-tumoral tissues in patients with primary brain tumors and patients with brain metastases.