Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Oct;20(5):489-498.
doi: 10.1007/s11102-017-0838-2.

Criteria for the definition of Pituitary Tumor Centers of Excellence (PTCOE): A Pituitary Society Statement

Felipe F Casanueva  1 , Ariel L Barkan  2 , Michael Buchfelder  3 , Anne Klibanski  4 , Edward R Laws  5 , Jay S Loeffler  6 , Shlomo Melmed  7 , Pietro Mortini  8 , John Wass  9 , Andrea Giustina  10 ; Pituitary Society, Expert Group on Pituitary Tumors
Collaborators, Affiliations

Criteria for the definition of Pituitary Tumor Centers of Excellence (PTCOE): A Pituitary Society Statement

Felipe F Casanueva et al. Pituitary. 2017 Oct.

Erratum in

Abstract

Introduction: With the goal of generate uniform criteria among centers dealing with pituitary tumors and to enhance patient care, the Pituitary Society decided to generate criteria for developing Pituitary Tumors Centers of Excellence (PTCOE).

Methods: To develop that task, a group of ten experts served as a Task Force and through two years of iterative work an initial draft was elaborated. This draft was discussed, modified and finally approved by the Board of Directors of the Pituitary Society. Such document was presented and debated at a specific session of the Congress of the Pituitary Society, Orlando 2017, and suggestions were incorporated. Finally the document was distributed to a large group of global experts that introduced further modifications with final endorsement.

Results: After five years of iterative work a document with the ideal criteria for a PTCOE is presented.

Conclusions: Acknowledging that very few centers in the world, if any, likely fulfill the requirements here presented, the document may be a tool to guide improvements of care delivery to patients with pituitary disorders. All these criteria must be accommodated to the regulations and organization of Health of a given country.

Keywords: Acromegaly; Cushing’s disease; Gonadotropins; Pituitary radiotherapy; Thyrotropinomas; Transsphenoidal surgery.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest

Felipe F Casanueva is consultant and lecture of fees for Pronokal, NovoNordisk and Orexigen and, member of Board of Directors Pituitary Society; Ariel L Barkan is research grant for Novartis and consultant for Pfizer, Ipsen and Novartis; Anne Klibanski is research grant for Ipsen, consultant for Chiasma and member of Scientific Board of Directors for Crinetics and Pituitary Society; Shlomo Melmed is research grant for Pfizer and Ipsen, and consultant for Chiasma, Novartis, Stonebridge, Ionis, Ono, Midatech, Dauntless, Reset and member of Board of Directors Pituitary Society; Andrea Giustina is consultant for Ipsen, Novartis and Pfizer, and member of Board of Directors Pituitary Society. The other authors (Michael Buchfelder, Edward R. Laws, Jay S Loeffler, Pietro Mortini and John Wass) declare they have no conflict of interest.

Informed consent

This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
General structure of a Pituitary Tumors Center of Excellence (PTCOE). The leading team composed by the endocrinology and by neurosurgery teams, and the main supportly units of other specialities
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Working flow chart of a given PTCOE. The Unit of Excellence benefits of working in collaboration with external endocrine units that may be located in other centers or hospitals. After surgery patients return to their original units. This allows for a networking method of patient care
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

References

    1. Daly AF, Tichomirowa MA, Beckers A. The epidemiology and genetics of pituitary adenomas. Best Pract Res Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2009;23:543–554. doi: 10.1016/j.beem.2009.05.008. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Fernandez A, Karavitaki N, Wass JA. Prevalence of pituitary adenomas: a community-based, cross-sectional study in Banbury (Oxfordshire, UK) Clin Endocrinol. 2010;72:377–82. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2265.2009.03667.x. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Giustina A, Chanson P, Kleinberg D, et al. Expert consensus document: A consensus on the medical treatment of acromegaly. Nat Rev Endocrinol. 2014;10:243–248. doi: 10.1038/nrendo.2014.21. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Melmed S, Casanueva FF, Cavagnini F, et al. Guidelines for acromegaly management. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2002;87:4054–4058. doi: 10.1210/jc.2002-011841. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Barker FG, Klibanski A, Swearingen B. Transsphenoidal surgery for pituitary tumors in the United States, 1996–2000: mortalitiy, morbidity, and the effects of hospital and surgeon volume. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2003;88:4709–4719. doi: 10.1210/jc.2003-030461. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources