Radiotherapy Linked to Increased Mortality in Pituitary Adenoma Patients
As the foremost purveyor (indeed the only purveyor) of cerebrovascular flow measurement technology, Transonic keeps a watchful eye on cerebrovascular news. It is estimated that approximately 6.5 million people die annually from Cerebrovascular Accident (CVA).1 CVA’s can have a variety of causes, from atherosclerotic plaque build up (the most common), to blood-thinning medication, but a recent study looked at another potential cause, and while the existence of correlation was not surprising, the degree of severity was.
The study in question took a retrospective look at 462 pituitary adenoma patients who received radiotherapy at the Royal Marsden Hospital between 1962 and 1994. Some patients had cerebrovascular surgery, and some did not. Follow up period reached 50 years in some instances, but there was an overall correlation between dose response and vascular morbidity which suggested radiotherapy may increase long term mortality in pituitary adenoma patients.2
More telling (alarming) are the stats themselves. Statistically, 144 deaths would have been expected, but 260 deaths occurred. Consequently, the authors stressed the need for minimizing radiotherapy dosages, maintaining long term monitoring, and managing risk factors with great care.
We agree wholeheartedly. Our primary mission is cerebrovascular risk mitigation through intraoperative flow measurement (TTFM), and since our measurements catch enough intraoperative risks that our users report TTFM prompting revision in one out of three cases, then surely a corollary surveillance technology could be developed to similarly safeguard pituitary adenoma radiotherapy patients.
Unfortunately, our technology does not overlap, or even come near the radiographic sector, so we can only issue a call to those within it to develop a surveillance device for this application, because such alarming mortality statistics cannot be allowed to go unaddressed.
We thank the authors of this study for their dedication to their field specifically, and the advancement of cerebrovascular medicine generally, and as always, we thank you for reading,
Transonic Systems, Inc.
The Measure of Better Results
