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A 65 year old woman, right handed, started with progressive bilateral visual loss in her temporal field, over 10 months, she underwent an MRI and it was found a sellar lesion that compressed the optic chiasm, an endoscopic endonasal transsphenoidal surgery was done for the resection of the lesion, using a novel bilaminar chitosan scaffold to assist the closure of the sellar floor.

The patient underwent endoscopic endonasal transsphenoidal surgery for resection of the sellar lesion, under the direct visualization, the lesion appeared redish and soft with moderately bleeding, a sample was taken for pathology and the remaining is extracted without complications, then the scaffold is implanted in the site of the bone defect in the sphenoid sinus, due to its moldable nature, it was easily set, covering the entire extension of the defect, a fat graft was set in the sphenoid sinus covering the bilaminar chitosan membrane, then fibrin sealant was used for hemostatic control and a nasal packing was set in both nostrils for finalize the procedure.

Implant of bilaminar chitosan scaffold

Rodrigo Ramos Zuñiga, M.D. PhD

Brenda Vega Ruiz, PhD

Ivan Segura Duran, M.D.

A 65 year old female participant , right handed, started with progressive bilateral visual loss in her temporal field, over 10 months, the participant underwent an MRI and it was found a sellar lesion that compressed the optic chiasm, an endoscopic endonasal transsphenoidal surgery was done for the resection of the lesion, using a novel bilaminar chitosan scaffold to assist the closure of the sellar floor. After a follow up of 2 years the participant returned to its normal visual function, without evidence of the sellar lesion on the postoperative MRI, and without complications.

Introduction This case describe the use of a novel bilaminar chitosan scaffold in the repair of the sellar floor after an endoscopic endonasal transsphenoidal surgery for a suspected hipofisary macroadenoma, the use of chitosan as a scaffold has been described in several preclinical studies and tested in tissue bioengineering of bone, neural tissue and soft tissue, in the case of bone tissue, several studies demonstrated its potential due to its biocompatibility, osteinductive and osteoconductive features, but there is a lack of clinical trials demonstrating this characteristics in the clinical setting. One of the most common complications for the neurosurgeons after an endoscopic endonasal transsphenoidal surgery is the CSF leak, depending on the technique and the reconstruction used for the sellar floor this complication could be presented from 5% to 75%of the cases, leading to complications such infections and pneumoencephalus, representing a great risk for comorbidities, longer recovery times and hospital costs, due to this challenges in the repair of the sellar floor,the investigators intent to approach the problematic with a chitosan scaffold for its characteristics in bone regeneration. The setting of a bioactive membrane in the defect of the surgery could be useful for a stronger and more suitable closure of the sellar floor.

Case description A 65 years old female participant, right handed, came to the neurosurgery consultation with progressive bilateral visual loss in her temporal fields, with predominance in the left eye over 10 months, two weeks before her admission the participant reported a sudden loss of consciousness, prompting her to go to the hospital. In her clinical examination, the participant was alert and oriented x3, normal cranial nerves examination except for decrease visual acuity by 20/200 in her left eye, 20/80 in her right eye, bitemporal hemianopia and mild primary athropy of the optic disc in the left eye, the gait and the motor and sensitive examination was normal. The laboratory studies showed a LH: 0.22 and prolactine: 53.7 .In the contrasted preoperative brain MRI, it was found a sellar lesion, hypointense in T1 but hyperintense in T2 signal with enhancing of the periphery after the infusion of gadolinium, the lesion presented extension to the sphenoid sinus, paraselar space without involvement of the carotids and supraselar with displacement of the optic chiasm. The participant underwent endoscopic endonasal transsphenoidal surgery for resection of the sellar lesion, under the direct visualization, the lesion appeared redish and soft with moderately bleeding, a sample was taken for pathology and the remaining is extracted without complications, then the scaffold is implanted in the site of the bone defect in the sphenoid sinus, due to its moldable nature, it was easily set, covering the entire extension of the defect, a fat graft was set in the sphenoid sinus covering the bilaminar chitosan membrane, then fibrin sealant was used for hemostatic control and a nasal packing was set in both nostrils for finalize the procedure. In the postoperative there was not complication and after a few days the participant was discharged with notable clinical improvement, after one month of follow up the participant recovered her visual acuity and the participant did not refer any symptom, the participant underwent a post operative brain MRI, where it is observed a gross total resection and good closure of the sellar floor, without signs of rejection or inflammation in the zone with the chitosan scaffold.

Materials and methods for the bilaminar chitosan scaffold The bilaminar implant is constitute by two types of different structures, one of the membranes presents a flat-smooth structure, the other membrane has a tridimensional-porous structure, each of the physical-chemical characteristics given to the membranes, was in function of the biological effect pretended in the effector tissue.

The two types of membranes, synthetized for the elaboration of the bilaminar implant, were elaborated with biomedical grade chitosan of medium molecular weight with 75-85% of deacetylation in powder presentation from the brand Sigma Aldrich®, U.S.A.

In the case of the membrane with flat-smooth structure, it was synthetized from a chitosan solution at 2%, the dissolution medium was diluted acetic acid (Sigma Aldrich®, U.S.A); In order to acquired a suitable solubilisation, the mix was set on a magnetic stirrer for 1 hour, posteriorly the solution was brought under the action of a sonicator at 28oc for 2 hours, until the air bubbles formed by the stirrer were completely eliminated.

For the membrane with the tridimensional-porous structure, it was synthetized from a chitosan solution at 4%, the dissolution medium was diluted acetic acid (Sigma Aldrich®, U.S.A); for a suitable solubilisation, the mix was set on a magnetic stirrer for 4 hours, afterward the solution was brought under the action of a sonicator at 28oc for 2 hours, until the air bubbles formed by the stirrer were completely eliminated.

Once the solutions were elaborated, for the synthesis of the two membranes (the flat-smooth and the tridimensional-porous) both were set in a constant quantity of ml/cm2 in a Petri dish, in the case of the flat-smooth membrane, it was brought under a procedure of drying with 98% of humidity loss and for the tridimensional-porous, a procedure of phase separating was termical induced.

When both membranes are already elaborated, it is proceed to synthetize the bilaminar implant, the membranes are combined using a solution of chitosan acetate at 2%, that was distributed uniformly between both membranes to create a sandwich structure, consecutively the ensemble was put in a Petri dish and the cover was set inverted in the superior aspect of petri dish. It was set for drying for 24 hours at room temperature and then it was precipitated in a solution of sodium hydroxide 1N, following the same indications used for each membrane separately.

Use of a novel bilaminar chitosan scaffold in the repair of the sellar floor after an endoscopic endonasal transsphenoidal surgery for a suspected hipofisary macroadenoma.

Chitosan Scaffold for Sellar Floor Repair in Endoscopic Endonasal Transsphenoidal Surgery

complete MRI sequences, laboratory studies, visual field tests, complete biomaterial patent registration , clinical reports.

Axial-coronal-sagittal MRI in T1,T2 signals-measure of the preoperative tumor size

Axial-coronal-sagittal MRI in T1,T2 signals-measure of the postoperative tumor size

Bone window was used to see the repair of bone defect after surgery

Axial-coronal-sagittal MRI in T1,T2 signals-measure of the postoperative tumor

visual field testing looking for compression of optic chiasm

For evaluation of any inflammatory reaction or infection before or after the procedure

evaluation of renal function and as requirement for surgery

evaluation of liver function and as requirement for surgery

secondary evaluation of liver function, inflammatory reaction or infection before and after the procedure and as requirement for surgery.

University of Guadalajara

M.D.

Neoplasms

Gland and Hormone Related Diseases

Eye Diseases

Adenoma

Pituitary Diseases

Vision, Low

Pituitary Neoplasms

Vision Disorders

Neoplasms, Glandular and Epithelial

Neoplasms by Histologic Type

Hypothalamic Diseases

Brain Diseases

Central Nervous System Diseases

Endocrine System Diseases

Sensation Disorders

Endocrine Gland Neoplasms

Hypothalamic Neoplasms

Supratentorial Neoplasms

Brain Neoplasms

Central Nervous System Neoplasms

Nervous System Neoplasms

Patients with visual impairment caused by chiasma compression from sellar area tumors will undergo the following examinations: resting state fMRI, visual tasking state fMRI, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), visual acuity and automated visual field test.

Volunteers with no visual impairment(visual acuity of both eyes \>1.0) or Nervous System disease will undergo the following examinations: resting state fMRI, visual tasking state fMRI, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), visual acuity and automated visual field test.

resting state fMRI

Using visual task stimulation to identify the activation characteristic of primary visual cortex.

visual tasking state fMRI

Define the integrity of white matter fibers in the visual pathway.

diffusion tensor imaging

Identify the existence and type of visual field defect.

automated visual field

Assess the visual acuity by using ETDRS scales.

visual acuity

Liu Z Xiong, MD/PhD

Zhong W Ming, MD

Sellar area tumors such as pituitary adenoma, craniopharyngioma and meningioma, etc, commonly lead to visual impairment symptoms. Patients suffer from a loss of visual acuity (VA) and visual field defects (VF) due to a local compression on the optic chiasma by the tumor. In the management of these patients, it is an important goal to evaluate their visual function throughout the treatment, so as to predict the outcome of the visual function .

Since the visual pathway contains a huge complex network of both structure and function, traditional simplex evaluation of VA and VF is obviously not enough. Former studies have revealed changes in the visual network and cortex structure in neurodegenerative diseases and optic neuritis, yet the functional and structural changes caused by local tumor compression and their relation to the visual cortex activity patterns needs further research.

The objective of this research is to asses the visual function in patients with sellar area tumor 1 week preoperatively (baseline),72 hours postoperatively(checking point 1) and at 3 months follow up(checkpoint 2). By using multimodal evaluation including visual resting and task state fMRI, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), etc. The investigators aim to reveal the changes in functional connectivity (FC), amplitude of low frequency fluctuation (ALFF), regional homogeneity (REHO) ,visual cortex activity patterns and tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS).

Detailed Description:

Study objective

Visual pathway contains both structural and functional network. When it is impacted by neurodegenerative diseases, neuritis or direct mechanical pressure, visual impairment occurs due to damage to the pathway. Former study on Parkinson's disease (Dagmar H. Heep et al, Radiology, 2017 ) found loss of functional connectivity in posterior and paracentral brain regions, while a study on optic neuritis (Yael Backner et al, JAMA Neurology,2018) showed an increase in functional connectivity and slightly loss in optic fiber integrity. Instead of simplex resting-state fMRI，the investigators of this study aim to assess:

1. whether similar changes in functional networking occur when visual pathway is impacted by chiasma compression from tumors in sellar area (by resting-state fMRI).
2. The correlation between local chiasma compression and visual cortex activation pattern ( by visual tasking-state fMRI).
3. Changes and recovery of the white matter fiber structure in the visual pathway.

( by diffusion tensor imaging, DTI).

Method Participants: 60 adult participants (18-60 years old ) will be enrolled in the department of Neurosurgery at Xiangya Hospital of Central South University. The experimental arm will consist of 30 patients with visual impairment symptoms caused by chiasma compression by sellar area tumors (Tumor Group, TG). The control arm will consist of 30 healthy controls without any nervous system disease or visual impairment (Healthy Control Group, HC, control arm).

Study design: Transversal and Longitudinal, single center, comparative study is designed to evaluate functional and structural visual networking of sellar area tumor patients and healthy controls. The study involves assessment with resting-state fMRI, tasking-state fMRI and DTI. Patients of experimental arm will be evaluated by multimodal fMRI at 3 different checkpoints (baseline is 1 week preoperative ,checkpoint 1 is 72 hours postoperative ,checkpoint 2 is 3 months follow up ). Participants of control arm will be evaluated only once. Transversal comparison will be conducted between preoperative tumor patients and healthy controls, while longitudinal comparison will be within tumor group at baseline and two other different checkpoints.

MRI data acquisition and analysis strategy: In this study, the MRI data is acquired by Siemens 3.0T Prisma scanner, including sequences of mprage T1 , diffusion tensor imaging, resting-state fMRI and visual stimulation task fMRI. Resting-state fMRI longitudinal data analysis includes functional connectivity (FC), amplitude of low frequency fluctuation (ALFF) and regional homogeneity (REHO) to assess visual functional networking in both group. These Data wil be analysed using a multivariate approach and independent component analysis (ICA). Visual tasking fMRI will be conducted under classic black and white "chess board" simulation on each eye. For the evaluation of structural visual network, afferent visual pathway (optic tract and radiation ), fiber tracking as well as tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) will be analyzed within both arms at baseline,checkpoint 1 and checkpoint 2 of the experimental arm will verify changing and recovering process of the visual pathway after chiasma decompression.

Primary outcomes

1. The difference in visual pathway anatomy and functional network between preoperative sellar area tumor patients and healthy controls. Tumor patients will be evaluated clinically by visual acuity (VA), visual field (VF), tumor height and chiasma thickness.
2. The verification of the correlation between patterns of chiasma compression and visual cortex activity. Revealing the difference of visual cortex activity patterns between both arms.

Secondary outcomes Throughout the 3 months follow up of the experimental arm patients, observe and verify the recovery process of both functional and structural visual network after chiasma decompression and evaluate its correlation with clinical visual function outcome.

Statistics

1. An analysis of two sample T test between the two groups will be performed to assess the difference of FC,REHO,ALFF and visual cortex activity pattern between resting state data and data from the visual task of TG and HC.
2. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) within TG group will be performed to assess the changes and recovery of FC, REHO, ALFF and visual cortex activity pattern via resting state data and data from the visual task's data.

Correlations will be explored between multimodal fMRI parameters (both functional and structural) and clinical criteria (e.g VA,VF, tumor size, visual outcome, etc).

Clinical Study of Structural and Functional Evaluation of the Visual Pathway

Multimodal Evaluation on Visual Pathway Predicts the Surgical Curative Effects in Sellar Area Tumors

Outcomes of visual resting state fMRI to assess the functional connectivity (FC) of visual resting network.

Outcomes of visual BOLD fMRI to assess the function of visual cortex by measuring the signal strength (T-test score) of the visual cortex activation.

Outcomes of tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) to assess the integrity of the white matter fibers in the posterior visual pathway.

Outcomes of visual acuity test for evaluation of the visual function impairment and recovery.

Visual Field Defects via Humphrey visual field chart, Mean Deviation and Standard Deviation in the patients' group at different checkpoints.

Visual resting state fMRI data will be analysed to assess the ALFF data of visual resting network

Outcomes of visual resting state fMRI to assess the regional homogeneity (REHO) of visual resting network.

Outcomes of fractional atrophy (FA) on the posterior visual pathway via diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and fiber tractography.

Outcomes of axial diffusivity (AD) value on the posterior visual pathway via diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and fiber tractography.

Outcomes of radial diffusivity (RD) value on the posterior visual pathway via diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and fiber tractography.

Study title	NCT ID	Conditions	Interventions	Eligibility	Organization
Chitosan Scaffold for Sellar Floor Repair in Endoscopic Endonasal Transsphenoidal Surgery	NCT03280849	Csf Leakage	Implant of bila...	18 Years -	University of Guadalajara
Clinical Study of Structural and Functional Evaluation of the Visual Pathway	NCT03591315	Pituitary Adeno... Visual Impairme... Sellar Tumor Neuroimaging	resting state f... visual tasking ... diffusion tenso... automated visua... visual acuity	18 Years - 60 Years	Xiangya Hospital of Central South University
Chitosan Scaffold for Sellar Floor Repair in Endoscopic Endonasal Transsphenoidal Surgery	NCT03280849	Csf Leakage	Implant of bila...	18 Years -	University of Guadalajara

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