Publications by authors named "Claudia Santoro"

Purpose: Selumetinib is a MEK inhibitor indicated for pediatric patients with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) and symptomatic inoperable plexiform neurofibromas (PNs).

Methods: This retrospective study collected data from 70 patients (aged 3 - 18 years) with NF1 and symptomatic inoperable PNs treated with selumetinib as part of compassionate use at 11 Italian centers between October 2018 and October 2024. Assessments included the clinical benefit rate (CBR) after 24 months and at the last observation.

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: Selumetinib, an MEK inhibitor, was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in April 2020 and became reimbursable in Italy in January 2020, for treating patients aged ≥3 years with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) complicated by symptomatic, inoperable plexiform neurofibromas (PNs).

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Purpose: We faced and herein report a detailed description of pre-operative assessment, management, and post-operative follow-up of a 2-year and 10-month-old girl with neurofibromatosis 1 (NF1) who presented with severe, dystrophic, cervical kyphosis (170 degrees) associated with extensive pre- and para-vertebral plexiform neurofibromas, who also went under MEK inhibitors therapy. Cervical kyphosis in NF1 is particularly rare, and there is no extensive literature available on the subject in terms of clinico-radiological features, surgical approach, and outcomes. We therefore also performed a comprehensive review of the available literature on the topic.

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Background: Multiple genes can disrupt hypothalamic-pituitary axis development, causing multiple pituitary hormone deficiencies (MPHD). Despite advances in next-generation sequencing (NGS) identifying over 30 key genes, 85% of cases remain unsolved, indicating complex genotype-phenotype correlations and variable inheritance patterns.

Objective: This study aimed to identify the MPHD genetics in three probands from two unrelated families.

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Background: Selumetinib is the first approved treatment for pediatric patients with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) and symptomatic, inoperable plexiform neurofibromas (PN) in the EU and US, as well as in multiple other countries. Evidence for the management of selumetinib-associated adverse events (AEs) is mostly limited to clinical trials and expanded-access programs. We gathered a panel of European healthcare practitioners with clinical experience prescribing selumetinib and/or managing pediatric patients with NF1-PN to provide recommendations on the prevention and management of AEs.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates how the severity and visibility of neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) affect children's quality of life (QoL).
  • Both patient self-reports and parent reports showed no significant differences in QoL scores, but higher NF1 severity was linked to lower physical QoL, and greater visibility was associated with lower physical and social QoL.
  • The research emphasizes that tailored interventions are necessary to address the specific physical and psychological challenges posed by NF1 in children, advocating for comprehensive care approaches.
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Purpose: Pathogenic LZTR1 variants cause schwannomatosis and dominant/recessive Noonan syndrome (NS). We aim to establish an association between heterozygous loss-of-function LZTR1 alleles and isolated multiple café-au-lait macules (CaLMs).

Methods: A total of 849 unrelated participants with multiple CaLMs, lacking pathogenic/likely pathogenic NF1 and SPRED1 variants, underwent RASopathy gene panel sequencing.

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Background: Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is a genetic disease that alters neurodevelopment. We aimed to analyze the sleep macrostructure of a sample of children affected by NF1 without neurocognitive co-morbidities and MRI reports of unidentified bright objects (UBOs).

Methods: A 100 pre-pubertal children participated in the cross-sectional study: 50 subjects were children diagnosed with NF1 and 50 subjects were typically developing healthy children (TDC).

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Objective: To summarize the available evidence on metabolic parameters indicating metabolic adverse effects and risk of metabolic syndrome in children and adolescents treated with antipsychotics, following a pre-specified protocol (PROSPERO ID 252336).

Method: We searched PubMed, Embase and PsycINFO until May 14, 2021, to identify systematic reviews (SR), meta-analyses (MA) and network meta-analyses (NMA) examining symptoms associated to metabolic syndrome in patients <18 years of age who required treatment with oral antipsychotic drugs. Evidence from quantitative analyses for all outcomes related to anthropometric, glyco-metabolic, and blood pressure parameters (measured from baseline to intervention-end and/or follow-up, in subjects exposed to antipsychotics and placebo) was reported on the basis of their metrics (median difference [medianD], mean difference [MD], standardized mean difference [SMD], odds ratio [OR], risk ratio ([RR]).

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Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is an autosomal dominant condition, associated with neurocutaneous manifestations and neuropsychiatric manifestations. The present study explored the prevalence of bullying/cyberbullying behaviors and victimization behaviors in a cohort of children and adolescents with NF1. Possible gender differences and predictors of psychological symptoms, quality of life (QoL), and self-esteem were also examined.

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Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is an autosomal dominant condition, with a birth incidence of approximately 1:2000-3000, caused by germline pathogenic variants in , a tumor suppressor gene encoding neurofibromin, a negative regulator of the RAS/MAPK pathway. This explains why NF1 is included in the group of RASopathies and shares several clinical features with Noonan syndrome. Here, we describe the main clinical characteristics and complications associated with NF1, particularly those occurring in pediatric age.

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Article Synopsis
  • Spinal neurofibromatosis (SNF) is a specific type of neurofibromatosis 1 (NF1) that primarily affects the spinal roots, leading to a high occurrence of internal and subcutaneous neurofibromas compared to typical NF1 cases.
  • A study involving 81 SNF patients identified unique clinical characteristics, such as increased internal neurofibromas and nerve root swelling, along with a higher occurrence of missense mutations in the NF1 gene.
  • The findings from this study, which includes a large patient group, aim to enhance understanding and management of SNF, potentially benefiting genetic counseling for patients with NF1.
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The authors present the case of removal of a Koos grade IV right acoustic neuroma in a neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2) patient, already operated on for left cerebellopontine angle meningioma at 7 years of age and a left acoustic neuroma at 16 years of age. A transpetrosal approach allowed cochlear sensor implantation to detect residual hearing. An enlarged retrosigmoid approach then allowed subtotal microsurgical removal of the lesion; consequently, the authors illustrate the technical nuances of an auditory brainstem implant (ABI).

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Moyamoya angiopathy (MMA) is a rare cerebral vasculopathy in some cases occurring in children. Incidence is higher in East Asia, where the heterozygous p.Arg4810Lys variant in (Mysterin) represents the major susceptibility factor.

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Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is one of the most common genetic tumor predisposition syndrome, caused by mutations in the . To date, few genotype-phenotype correlations have been discerned in NF1, due to a highly variable clinical presentation. We aimed to study the molecular spectrum of NF1 and genotype-phenotype correlations in a monocentric study cohort of 85 NF1 patients (20 relatives, 65 sporadic cases).

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Diencephalic syndrome (DS) is a rare pediatric condition associated with optic pathway gliomas (OPGs). Since they are slow-growing tumors, their diagnosis might be delayed, with consequences on long-term outcomes. We present a multicenter case series of nine children with DS associated with OPG, with the aim of providing relevant details about mortality and long-term sequelae.

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Article Synopsis
  • Oculogyric crisis (OGC) is a rare movement disorder that can occur as a side effect of antipsychotic medications, often linked to issues with dopamine neurotransmission.
  • It is infrequently documented in children treated with aripiprazole, a common atypical antipsychotic for young patients.
  • This study presents a series of three pediatric cases and aims to raise awareness among healthcare professionals while encouraging further research on OGC.
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Takenouchi-Kosaki syndrome (TKS) is a recently delineated syndromic form of thrombocytopenia strictly related to an hot-spot missense variant, p.Tyr64Cys, in CDC42 (Cell Division Control protein 42). Herein we report an additional patient with the p.

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(1) Background. Scoliosis is the most common musculoskeletal manifestation of Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1), and it might be dystrophic (D) or non-dystrophic (ND) depending on the presence of dysplastic changes of the spine. The aim of our study was to describe the characteristics and natural history of patients with NF1 and scoliosis.

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Background: Sensorineural hearing loss in beta-thalassemia is common and it is generally associated with iron chelation therapy. However, data are scarce, especially on adult populations, and a possible involvement of the central auditory areas has not been investigated yet. We performed a multicenter cross-sectional audiological and single-center 3Tesla brain perfusion MRI study enrolling 77 transfusion-dependent/non transfusion-dependent adult patients and 56 healthy controls.

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Neurofibromatosis 1 (NF1) is a disorder characterized by variable expressivity caused by loss-of-function variants in NF1, encoding neurofibromin, a protein negatively controlling RAS signaling. We evaluated whether concurrent variation in proteins functionally linked to neurofibromin contribute to the variable expressivity of NF1. Parallel sequencing of a RASopathy gene panel in 138 individuals with molecularly confirmed clinical diagnosis of NF1 identified missense variants in PTPN11, encoding SHP2, a positive regulator of RAS signaling, in four subjects from three unrelated families.

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