Background:
A giant prolactinoma extending to the suprasellar area and causing hydrocephalus may be life-threatening and should be treated promptly. A case of a giant prolactinoma with acute hydrocephalus that underwent transventricular neuroendoscopic tumor resection followed by cabergoline administration is presented.
Case Description:
A 21-year-old man had a headache lasting for about a month. He gradually developed nausea and disturbance of consciousness. Magnetic resonance imaging showed a contrast-enhanced lesion that extended from the intrasellar space to the suprasellar space and into the third ventricle. The tumor obstructed the foramen of Monro and caused hydrocephalus. A blood test showed marked elevation of prolactin (16,790 ng/mL). The tumor was diagnosed as a prolactinoma. The tumor in the third ventricle had formed a cyst, and the cyst wall blocked the right foramen of Monro. The cystic component of the tumor was resected using an Olympus VEF-V flexible neuroendoscope. The histological diagnosis was pituitary adenoma. The hydrocephalus improved rapidly and his consciousness became clear. After the operation, he was started on cabergoline. The tumor size subsequently decreased.
Conclusion:
Prompt partial resection of the giant prolactinoma by transventricular neuroendoscopy resulted in early improvement of hydrocephalus with less invasiveness, allowing subsequent treatment with cabergoline.
In the treatment of PCNSL, chemotherapy is becoming the main treatment, in a while, radiation therapy is becoming to be avoided. In our hospital, hematology leads an initiative to the treatment of PCNSL from 2021. During the 7 years from 2016, there were 32 cases of PCNSL that underwent initial treatment at our hospital, of which 8 cases occurred after 2021. The breakdown was 6:2 male to female, and the average age was 71.3 years. In 5 relatively young patients, remission was induced with 5 to 6 courses of R-MPV therapy, 3 of which received high-dose chemotherapy combined with autologous peripheral blood stem cell transfusion, all of whom avoided RT and have maintained remission. In 3 older patients, only RT was performed in 1 and HD-MTX therapy was performed in 2, of which RT was combined in 1 and BSC was introduced due to treatment related sepsis in another patient. Although the follow-up period was short, there has been no recurrence except for one patient who became BSC. On the other hand, in 24 patients before 2020, HD-MTX therapy combined with RT was performed in all patients, except for 1 patient who underwent RT only due to advanced age and 1 patient who died before treatment due to poor general condition. Recurrence was observed in 8 cases, and additional RT and chemotherapy were performed. Although no recurrence was seen in 16 cases, there are only 4 patients who had been still followed up, 6 died, and 6 had unknown or BSC, with a poor prognosis. One of the reasons was thought to be related to the decrease in ADL due to radiation injury. In the absence of recurrence, ADL may be maintained long-term in young patients. On the other hand, elderly people cannot avoid RT, which is still a problem.
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