Individualized high-dose cabergoline treatment can normalize hyperprolactinemia and hypogonadism in nearly all prolactinomas irrespective of tumor size or preceding treatments. Hyperprolactinemia could be controlled in poor responders within 1 yr with doses higher than 3 mg/wk.

Clinical and radiological features that help predict the growth potential of meningioma would be beneficial. The purpose of this study is to clarify the characteristics related to proliferating potential using the MIB-1 staining index. We analyzed the relationship of MIB-1 staining indices to characteristics of 342 consecutive patients with meningioma surgically removed between 1995 and 2004 by logistic regression analysis. One hundred and forty-nine of the patients with meningioma were ≥60 in age; 89 male; 48 recurrent; 203 symptomatic; 157 at the skull base; 124 over 20 cm 3 ; 24 multiple; 136 with edema; 117 with calcification. The MIB-1 staining index in 56 of 296 grade I meningiomas in WHO classification was ≥ 3.0; in 27 of 28 grade II; and in 17 of 18 grade III, respectively. Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that male (odds ratio [OR], 2.374, p=0.003), recurrence (OR, 7.574, p=0.0001), skull base (OR, 0.540, p=0.035), calcification (OR, 0.498, p=0.019) were independent risk factors for a high MIB-1 staining index (≥3.0); age, symptomatic, volume, multiple, edema were not. Male, recurrence, non-skull base, absence of calcification are independent risk factors for a high proliferative potential. These should be taken into consideration when managing meningiomas.

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Xanthogranuloma of the sellar region is a rare clinical observation. Although it was included in the World Health Organization (WHO) brain tumor classification in 2000, its clinical features and pathogenesis remain uncertain. We report herein seven cases of xanthogranuloma of the sellar region who underwent transsphenoidal surgery at Tokyo Women's Medical University between 2005 and 2011, and discuss the clinical characteristics of this tumor. Six out of these 7 patients (86 %) presented with endocrinological dysfunction, six (86 %) had headaches, five (71 %) had visual field disturbances, and three (43 %) had diplopia including two with unilateral ptosis. Pathological findings revealed cholesterol clefts, hemosiderin deposits, chronic inflammatory infiltrates, multinucleated giant cells, macrophages, and fibrous proliferation. Of these seven cases, components of Rathke's cleft cyst were observed for six. Xanthogranuloma in the sellar region is suspected of being a terminal stage resulting from a secondary reaction caused by repeated inflammatory change, hemorrhage, and degeneration of a Rathke's cleft cyst.

Cabergoline achieved a high pregnancy rate with uneventful outcomes in infertile women with prolactinoma, independent of tumor size and bromocriptine resistance or intolerance. Cabergoline monotherapy could substitute for the conventional combination therapy of pregestational surgery or irradiation plus bromocriptine in macroprolactinomas.