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Prevalence of metastases within the hypothalamic-pituitary area in patients with brain metastases
AIM: To quantify the prevalence of brain metastases involving the hypothalamic-pituitary (HT-P) area. INTRODUCTION: Cognitive impairment and fatigue are common side effects of whole brain irradiation (WBI) comprising the quality of life (QoL) for survivors. While the former is related to radiation-i...
Autores principales: | , , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
BioMed Central
2019
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6712746/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31455428 http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13014-019-1337-6 |
Sumario: | AIM: To quantify the prevalence of brain metastases involving the hypothalamic-pituitary (HT-P) area. INTRODUCTION: Cognitive impairment and fatigue are common side effects of whole brain irradiation (WBI) comprising the quality of life (QoL) for survivors. While the former is related to radiation-induced hippocampal injury, the latter could be secondary to hormonal disbalance as a consequence of radiation of the HT-P area. Thus, sparing both regions from higher irradiation doses could reduce these sequelae. METHODS: T1 contrast medium enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of 865 patients with brain metastases (4,280 metastases) were reviewed. HT-P area was individually contoured with a margin of 5 mm in order to evaluate the prevalence of brain metastases in this region. RESULTS: Involvement of the hypothalamic region was found in 26 patients (involvement rate of 3% for patients and 1% for metastases), involvement of the pituitary gland in 9 patients (1% for patients and < 1% for metastases). Binary logistical regression analysis revealed the presence of > 10 brain metastases as the only factor associated with hypothalamic involvement while no distinct factor was associated with an involvement of the pituitary gland. CONCLUSION: The low prevalence of metastases within the HT-P area in patients with brain metastases calls for further studies examining whether sparing of this region might improve patients QoL. |
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