Sossio Cirillo

Professor of Neuroradiology

Name Sossio
Surname Cirillo
Institution Università degli Studi della Campania Luigi Vanvitelli
E-Mail sossio.cirillo@unicampania.it
Address CTO Viale dei Colli Aminei 21, Naples, Italy
Sossio Cirillo

Member PUBLICATIONS

  • Bullying at Workplace and Brain-Imaging Correlates.

    Publication Date: 04/08/2018 on Journal of clinical medicine
    by Nolfe G, Cirillo M, Iavarone A, Negro A, Garofalo E, Cotena A, Lazazzara M, Zontini G, Cirillo S
    DOI: 10.3390/jcm7080200

    The relationship between psychosocial stress at work and mental health outcome is well-known. Brain-imaging studies hypothesize morphological brain modifications connected to work-related stress. To our knowledge this is the first study describing the link between work characteristics and brain imaging in a sample of work-related psychiatric patients assessed according to standardized clinical and diagnostic criteria. The aims of the study are: (1) to evaluate hippocampal and whole brain volumes in work-related psychiatric disturbances; (2) to verify the relationship between brain changes and the anxious and/or depressive symptoms; (3) to observe the relationship between the brain changes and the degree of the bullying at workplace. The hippocampus and whole brain volumes of 23 patients with work-related adjustment-disorders were compared with 15 controls by means of MRI. MR images highlight a smaller hippocampal volume in patients compared with controls. Significant reduction in the patients' gray matter was found in three brain areas: right inferior temporal gyrus, left cuneus, left inferior occipital gyrus. The reduction of the hippocampi volumes was related to work distress and, above all, to bullying at workplace. The results confirm that the morphological brain abnormalities could be involved in work-related psychiatric disturbances.

  • Dilated Virchow-Robin space and Parkinson's disease: A case report of combined MRI and diffusion tensor imaging.

    Publication Date: 30/06/2018 on Radiology case reports
    by Conforti R, Sardaro A, Negro A, Caiazzo G, Paccone A, De Micco R, Cirillo S, Tessitore A
    DOI: 10.1016/j.radcr.2018.05.011

    In this manuscript we report the case of a 69-year-old female patient, who suffers from Parkinson's disease (PD) with a dilated Virchow-Robin space (dVRS) on the left anterior perforated substance. During a magnetic resonance imaging examination, the presence of a dVRS was discovered on the left anterior perforated substance. Subsequently, the patient has been subjected to further investigation of magnetic resonance imaging and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). The DTI data of our PD patient showed increased peak frequency of left fractional anisotropy and decreases in the distribution of Mean Diffusivity(MD) with changes in the fiber density compared to the normal contralateral tract. We hypothesize that the DTI changes are due to dVRS. In the text a review of the recent literature on the presence of dVRSs, located in mono and bilateral seat, in patients with PD is reported, explaining its possible implications on disease progression, cognitive decline, and worsening of symptoms.

  • Sporadic cerebral amyloid angiopathy as a cause of relapsing lobar hemorrhage, convexal subarachnoid hemorrhage and cortical superficial siderosis.

    Publication Date: 01/11/2016 on Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology
    by Conforti R, Sardaro A, Cirillo S, Parlato C
    DOI: 10.1007/s10072-016-2624-8
  • Dilated perivascular spaces and fatigue: is there a link? Magnetic resonance retrospective 3Tesla study.

    Publication Date: 01/09/2016 on Neuroradiology
    by Conforti R, Cirillo M, Sardaro A, Caiazzo G, Negro A, Paccone A, Sacco R, Sparaco M, Gallo A, Lavorgna L, Tedeschi G, Cirillo S
    DOI: 10.1007/s00234-016-1711-0

    Fatigue (F) is a common, inexplicable, and disabling symptom in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a possible correlation between fatigue and morpho-volumetric features and site of dilated perivascular spaces (dPS), visible on 3T magnetic resonance (MR) in fatigued multiple sclerosis patients (FMS).

  • Erratum to: The treatment with pasireotide in Cushing's disease: effects of long-term treatment on tumor mass in the experience of a single center.

    Publication Date: 01/07/2016 on Endocrine
    by Simeoli C, Auriemma RS, Tortora F, De Leo M, Iacuaniello D, Cozzolino A, De Martino MC, Pivonello C, Mainolfi CG, Rossi R, Cirillo S, Colao A, Pivonello R
    DOI: 10.1007/s12020-016-0924-7
  • Brain MRI abnormalities in the adult form of myotonic dystrophy type 1: A longitudinal case series study.

    Publication Date: 01/02/2016 on The neuroradiology journal
    by Conforti R, de Cristofaro M, Cristofano A, Brogna B, Sardaro A, Tedeschi G, Cirillo S, Di Costanzo A
    DOI: 10.1177/1971400915621325

    This study aimed to verify whether brain abnormalities, previously described in patients with myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), progressed over time and, if so, to characterize their progression. Thirteen DM1 patients, who had at least two MRI examinations, were retrospectively evaluated and included in the study. The mean duration (± standard deviation) of follow-up was 13.4 (±3.8) years, over a range of 7-20 years. White matter lesions (WMLs) were rated by semi-quantitative method, the signal intensity of white matter poster-superior to trigones (WMPST) by reference to standard images and brain atrophy by ventricular/brain ratio (VBR). At the end of MRI follow-up, the scores relative to lobar, temporal and periventricular WMLs, to WMPST signal intensity and to VBR were significantly increased compared to baseline, and MRI changes were more evident in some families than in others. No correlation was found between the MRI changes and age, onset, disease duration, muscular involvement, CTG repetition and follow-up duration. These results demonstrated that white matter involvement and brain atrophy were progressive in DM1 and suggested that progression rate varied from patient to patient, regardless of age, disease duration and genetic defect.

  • Brainstem variant of posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome: A case report.

    Publication Date: 01/12/2015 on The neuroradiology journal
    by Tortora F, Caranci F, Belfiore MP, Manzi F, Pagliano P, Cirillo S
    DOI: 10.1177/1971400915609336

    Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) is a clinico-radiological condition, generally observed in conjunction with severe and acute hypertension, that involves mainly the posterior head areas (occipital and temporal lobes) and anterior "watershed" areas. In this syndrome it is rare to observe a predominant involvement of the brainstem. We describe the clinical and radiological findings in a patient with brainstem involvement, discussing its pathophysiological features and possible differential diagnosis.

  • The treatment with pasireotide in Cushing's disease: effects of long-term treatment on tumor mass in the experience of a single center.

    Publication Date: 01/12/2015 on Endocrine
    by Simeoli C, Auriemma RS, Tortora F, De Leo M, Iacuaniello D, Cozzolino A, De Martino MC, Pivonello C, Mainolfi CG, Rossi R, Cirillo S, Colao A, Pivonello R
    DOI: 10.1007/s12020-015-0557-2

    Pasireotide is the first medical therapy officially approved for the treatment of adult patients with Cushing's disease (CD) who experienced a failure of pituitary surgery or are not candidates for surgery and require medical therapeutic intervention. The current study aimed at investigating the effects of long-term treatment with pasireotide (up to 24 months) on tumor mass in a group of patients with CD, participating to a phase III study. Fourteen CD patients entered the phase III clinical trial CSOM230B2305 at Naples Center, and eight (seven women, one man, aged 38.9 ± 17.6 years), including seven with a microadenoma and one with a macroadenoma, received treatment with pasireotide at the dose of 600-1200 µg bid for at least 6 months, and were considered for the analysis of the study. These eight patients were subjected to the evaluation of pituitary tumor volume by pituitary MRI, together with the evaluation of urinary cortisol levels, at baseline and every 6 months for the entire period of treatment. Pasireotide treatment induced full disease control in 37.5 % and partial disease control in 37.5 % after 6 months, whereas full and partial disease control after 12 months was obtained in 28.6 % and in 57.1 % of patients, respectively. A significant (>25 %) reduction in tumor volume was found in 62.5 % and in 100 % of patients, after 6 and 12 months, respectively. In particular, after 6 months, a slight tumor shrinkage (between 25.1 and 50 %) was observed in 25 %, moderate (50.1-75 %) in 25 %, and marked (>75 %) in 12.5 % of patients, whereas after 12 months, a slight tumor shrinkage was observed in 43 %, moderate in 14 %, and marked in 43 % of patients. In 25 % of patients (two patients), a marked tumor shrinkage was recorded, with tumor mass disappearance in one case; this tumor shrinkage was associated to rapid and sustained biochemical remission up to 24 months of continuous pasireotide treatment. These two cases represent the first cases with a documentation of such a notable effect of pasireotide on tumor mass. Pasireotide induces significant tumor shrinkage in 62.5 % of patients after 6 months and in 100 % of patients after 12 months, and occasionally induces a radiological disappearance of the tumor. This evidence supports and strengthens the role of pasireotide as medical treatment specifically addressed to patients with CD, particularly in those who had unsuccessful pituitary surgery, or are not candidates for surgery.

  • Computer-aided cognitive rehabilitation improves cognitive performances and induces brain functional connectivity changes in relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis patients: an exploratory study.

    Publication Date: 01/01/2015 on Journal of neurology
    by Bonavita S, Sacco R, Della Corte M, Esposito S, Sparaco M, d'Ambrosio A, Docimo R, Bisecco A, Lavorgna L, Corbo D, Cirillo S, Gallo A, Esposito F, Tedeschi G
    DOI: 10.1007/s00415-014-7528-z

    To better understand the effects of short-term computer-based cognitive rehabilitation (cCR) on cognitive performances and default mode network (DMN) intrinsic functional connectivity (FC) in cognitively impaired relapsing remitting (RR) multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. Eighteen cognitively impaired RRMS patients underwent neuropsychological evaluation by the Rao's brief repeatable battery and resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging to evaluate FC of the DMN before and after a short-term (8 weeks, twice a week) cCR. A control group of 14 cognitively impaired RRMS patients was assigned to an aspecific cognitive training (aCT), and underwent the same study protocol. Correlations between DMN and cognitive performances were also tested. After cCR, there was a significant improvement of the following tests: SDMT (p < 0.01), PASAT 3" (p < 0.00), PASAT 2" (p < 0.03), SRT-D (p < 0.02), and 10/36 SPART-D (p < 0.04); as well as a significant increase of the FC of the DMN in the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and bilateral inferior parietal cortex (IPC). After cCR, a significant negative correlation between Stroop Color-Word Interference Test and FC in the PCC emerged. After aCT, the control group did not show any significant effect either on FC or neuropsychological tests. No significant differences were found in brain volumes and lesion load in both groups when comparing data acquired at baseline and after cCR or aCT. In cognitively impaired RRMS patients, cCR improves cognitive performances (i.e., processing speed and visual and verbal sustained memory), and increases FC in the PCC and IPC of the DMN. This exploratory study suggests that cCR may induce adaptive cortical reorganization favoring better cognitive performances, thus strengthening the value of cognitive exercise in the general perspective of building either cognitive or brain reserve.

  • Dilated Virchow-Robin spaces and multiple sclerosis: 3 T magnetic resonance study.

    Publication Date: 01/06/2014 on La Radiologia medica
    by Conforti R, Cirillo M, Saturnino PP, Gallo A, Sacco R, Negro A, Paccone A, Caiazzo G, Bisecco A, Bonavita S, Cirillo S
    DOI: 10.1007/s11547-013-0357-9

    The aim of this study was to assess differences in the presence, size, number and site of dilated cerebral Virchow-Robin spaces (VRSd) between patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) in the inactive phase and healthy controls, and between MS patients with disabling (MSd) or nondisabling (MSnd) disease.