Bitemporal Visual Field Defects Research Articles

Induction of ovulation in infertile women with pituitary tumors

Four infertile women with pituitary adenoma were treated with human pituitary gonadotropins (HPG) in order to enable them to become pregnant. During pregnancy they contracted headache, bitemporal visual field defects, or impaired visual acuity. One woman was operated upon in the second trimester; the other three, as the symptoms were relatively moderate and no risk of permanent damage to the optic tract existed, went to term. After operation or delivery the symptoms disappeared.

Bitemporal visual field defects associated with anomalies of the optic discs.

<h3>ABSTRACT</h3> <h3>Background</h3> One major challenge for detecting the virus that causes COVID-19 is commercial SARS-CoV-2 testing kit or reagent availability. To allow every laboratory or hospital access to an in-house assay, we developed two low-cost SARS-CoV-2 detection assay protocols using in-house primers and reagents/equipment on hand in most biology or diagnostic laboratories: a SYBR Green–based RT-PCR and PCR assays. RNA extraction has also become a major bottleneck due to limited supplies and the required labor. Thus, we validated alternative RNA extraction protocols. <h3>Methods</h3> SARS-CoV-2 genome sequences deposited into the GISAID database were retrieved to design and synthesize in-house primers. Forty patient samples were collected by nasopharyngeal swab, coded, and used to develop and validate the assay protocols. Both assays used TRIzol and heat-processing techniques to extract RNA from patient samples and to inactivate the virus; thus, testing was conducted in a conventional biosafety level 2 laboratory. <h3>Results</h3> The sensitivity and specificity of the primers were evaluated using samples previously confirmed positive for SARS-CoV-2. The positive amplicons were sequenced to confirm the results. The assay protocols were developed, and the specificity of each PCR product was confirmed using melting curve analyses. The most accurate heat-processing technique for primers with short amplicon lengths was 95 °C for 15 mins. Of 40 samples, both the SYBR Green–based quantitative RT-PCR assay and the PCR assay detected SARS-CoV-2 target genes in 28 samples, with no false-positive or false-negative results. These findings were 100% concordant with those of the diagnostic laboratory that tested the same samples using a Rotor-Gene PCR cycler with an Altona Diagnostics SARS-CoV-2 kit (R2=0.889). <h3>Conclusions</h3> These approaches are reliable, repeatable, specific, sensitive, simple, and low-cost tools for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 in a conventional biosafety level 2 laboratory, offering alternative approaches when commercial kits are unavailable or cost ineffective.

Oxycephaly in the adult simulating pituitary tumor. Clinical and roentgenologic manifestations.

OXYCEPHALY IN THE ADULT SIMULATING PITUITARY TUMOR CLINICAL AND ROENTGENOLOGIC MANIFESTATIONSLAURENCE GRUNDY, M.D., JOHN A. GOREE, M.D. and JOHN P. JIMENEZ, M.D.Audio Available | Share

Intranasal chromophobe adenocarcinoma; report of a case.

Chromophobe adenoma is a common intracranial tumor of adults. It usually arises in the vicinity of the pituitary stalk on the periphery of the gland where the chromophobe cells usually predominate. It is a globular encapsulated lesion that grows to large proportions and may be either solid or cystic. 1 The tumor causes deformity and destruction of the sella and sometimes gives rise to symptoms of hypopituitarism. It causes compression of the optic chiasm and frequently produces characteristic bitemporal hemianopic visual field defects. Microscopically the tumor consists of polygonal cells arranged in columns, or alveoli about a stroma of branching sinuses. It is separated by a capsule of connective tissue from the normal gland. Under high magnification the uniform cells reveal an angular cytoplasm and round to oval hyperchromatic nuclei with little evidence of mitosis. These tumors may extend above the tentorium 2 to compress and distort the optic nerves,

Chromophobe pituitary tumors. I. Diagnosis.

THIS review of our series of patients having chromophobe adenomas of the pituitary gland was undertaken to determine the relative frequency and nature of associated endocrine disorders and to evaluate the effects of medical, roentgen-ray and surgical treatment on these disorders as well as on the visual apparatus. From the medical point of view, the problem of evaluating the presence or extent of endocrine deficiency presents itself in any patient whenever an enlarged sella is found roentgenographically. Roentgenograms of the skull are taken for various reasons in clinical practice and an enlarged sella is occasionally, and often unexpectedly, encountered. If well marked clinical signs of hypopituitarism are present, a presumptive diagnosis of chromophobe tumor is usually justified. When primary optic atrophy occurs, together with bitemporal visual field defects, the diagnosis is almost certain. Not all enlargements of the sella turcica, however, are due to chromophobe, mixed or eosinophil tumors, so that...