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The characterization of sellar and suprasellar lesions is reliant on patient presentation, medical imaging, and hormone profiling. Prolactinomas are the most common type of functional pituitary adenomas, accounting for up to 57%. Importantly, prolactinomas can present without clear symptoms and with doubtful or even normal imaging. A 41-year-old male patient was referred to neurosurgery for consideration for resection of a sellar lesion, as initial CT imaging suggested a large meningioma. Subsequent MRI of the sella favored macroadenoma, meningioma, and craniopharyngioma as the top differential considerations. These conditions all indicate a diagnosis that would require surgical management. Clinical evaluation of this patient did not elicit any obvious clinical features suggestive of hyperprolactinemia. Fortunately, we obtained a full hormone panel which revealed a significantly elevated prolactin level of 17,390 µg/L. Based on this elevated prolactin level, we diagnosed a pituitary giant prolactinoma. Treatment with a dopamine agonist therapy was initiated and the response confirmed this diagnosis. This case demonstrates the importance of obtaining a prolactin level prior to surgical management of a sellar lesion. Had a prolactin level not been obtained, this patient would have undergone surgical resection based on both the imaging and clinical judgment.

Background: Degenerative cervical myelopathy is a spinal disorder resulting in progressive cord compression and neurological deficits that are assessed using the modified Japanese Orthopedic Association (mJOA) questionnaire. It is difficult to predict which patients will recover neurological function after surgery, making it challenging for clinicians to set postoperative patient expectations. In this study, we used mJOA subscores to identify patterns of recovery and recovery timelines in patients with moderate and severe myelopathy. Methods: Fifty-three myelopathy patients were enrolled and completed the mJOA questionnaire both pre-surgery, and six weeks and six months post-surgery. Pearson chi-square tests were performed to assess relationships of both recovery patterns and recovery timelines with severity of disease. Results: Moderate myelopathy patients were significantly more likely than severe myelopathy patients to experience full recovery of upper extremity, lower extremity, and sensory domains. Disease severity did not significantly impact the timeline during which recovery occurs. Overall, >90% of patients experienced at least partial recovery by six months post surgery, 80% of which demonstrated it within the first six weeks. Conclusions: This study shows the more severe the disease experienced by myelopathy patients, the more likely they will be left with permanent disabilities despite surgery. Early identification and treatment are therefore necessary to prevent worsening quality of life and increased costs of functional dependence. The recovery timelines for each subscore are similar and provide new values to guide patient expectations in their potential post-operative recovery. The overall recovery timeline is more generalizable though potentially lacking the specificity patients seek.

Chondroblastoma is an uncommon osseous neoplasm that accounts for less than 1% of all bone tumors. Characteristically it arises in the epiphysis or apophysis of long bones in young patients and may extend into the metaphysis. A sixteen-year-old male presents with a 1-year history of left knee pain associated with joint stiffness and interfering with performing daily activities. Radiographic and contrast enhanced magnetic resonance imaging favored the diagnosis of chondroblastoma. This was then confirmed histologically. The clinical signs and symptoms of Chondroblastoma are usually nonspecific, pain is most often moderate and can be revealed as a result of a trauma. The definitive diagnosis is mainly pathological due to the lack of specificity of radiological findings consistent with the presented case.

ABSTRACT: Pfeiffer syndrome, affecting roughly 1 in 100,000 individuals is characterized by acrocephalosyndactyly – the premature closure of skull sutures (craniosynostosis). These acrocephalosyndactyly syndromes which are often sporadic de novo but also autosomal dominant in inheritance can be characterized by the fact that they often involve FGFR and TWIST genes. In the presented case, a 27-year old male level three trauma admission displayed skull abnormalities on physical examination that history taking confirmed was the result of pediatric surgically corrected Pfeiffer syndrome. Noncontrast brain CT as part of his trauma work-up revealed characteristic Pfeiffer syndrome imaging pattern of midface hypoplasia, nonvisualization of coronal and sagittal sutures, and a degree of obstructive hydrocephalus. Pfeiffer syndrome requires extensive pediatric surgery often with poor adult follow up. The case presented provides good visualization of characteristic skull abnormalities in a surgically corrected adult. By virtue of imaging an adult, this provides readers with a unique look at the long-term viability and the body's resulting physiological adaptations of the extensive mandatory pediatric surgery these patients undergo.