1/2574. pituitary apoplexy after cardiac surgery presenting as deep coma with dilated pupils. Acute clinical deterioration due to infarction or haemorrhage of an existing, often previously unrecognized, pituitary tumour is a rare but well-described complication. It can occur spontaneously or may be caused e.g. by mechanical ventilation, infection or surgical procedures. We report on a case of pituitary apoplexy occurring in a 64-year-old patient 3 weeks after cardiac surgery. The patient presented with deep coma and dilated pupils. magnetic resonance imaging revealed a haemorrhagic pituitary tumour. After prompt endocrinologic replacement therapy with levothyroxine and hydrocortisone the patient regained consciousness. Neurological examination revealed right oculomotor nerve palsy and bilateral cranial nerve VI palsy. Subsequent trans-sphenoidal removal of a nonfunctional macroadenoma with large necrotic areas was performed. The patient recovered completely. To our knowledge, pituitary tumours presenting with a combination of deep coma and dilated pupils must be considered exceedingly rare. Possible pathophysiologic mechanisms are discussed. As our case illustrates, even in severe cases complete recovery is possible if the diagnosis is suspected, and diagnostic and therapeutic measures are initiated in time. ( info) |
2/2574. Pituitary macroadenoma manifesting as an isolated fourth nerve palsy. PURPOSE: To describe an unusual ophthalmic manifestation of a pituitary adenoma. methods: Case report. RESULTS: A 32-year-old man had left supraorbital and frontal headaches and new-onset vertical diplopia. Examination showed a left fourth nerve palsy and increased vertical fusional amplitudes. magnetic resonance imaging disclosed a sellar mass consistent with a pituitary macroadenoma. CONCLUSION: A pituitary adenoma may rarely manifest with an isolated fourth nerve palsy. ( info) |
3/2574. Interesting radiologic findings in suprasellar mass lesions. Report of three cases. The authors report three quite rare lesions of the sellar/parasellar region. They are namely; pituitary abscess, cystic macroadenoma and osteochondroma. In none of the cases, the preoperative diagnostic priority was not same as the final histopathologic diagnosis. The radiologic findings of these pathologies are discussed with emphasis on differential diagnosis. ( info) |
| Vitamin E is one of the most important lipid-soluble antioxidant nutrient. Severe vitamin e deficiency (VED) can have a profound effect on the central nervous system. VED causes ataxia and peripheral neuropathy that resembles Friedreich's ataxia. We report here a patient presenting this syndrome, but also a prolactin and FSH adenoma. Both the neurological syndromes and the adenoma regressed after treatment with alpha-tocopherol. Although, the presence of the prolactinoma in this patient may not be related to his vitamin e deficiency, alpha-tocopherol treatment seems to be beneficial and might usefully be tested in patients with hypophyseal secreting other forms of adenoma. ( info) |
5/2574. Immature teratoma originating from the pituitary gland: case report. OBJECTIVE AND IMPORTANCE: Recently, it has been suggested that the primary site of suprasellar germinomas is the neurohypophysis, but nongerminomatous germ cell tumors originating from the pituitary gland have been rarely reported. CLINICAL PRESENTATION: A 27-year-old man presented with panhypopituitarism, bitemporal hemianopsia, and mild right oculomotor nerve paralysis. diabetes insipidus was not observed. The tumor was shown by magnetic resonance imaging to extend and invade bilateral cavernous sinuses, sellar and clival dura mater, and the sphenoid sinus mucosa. INTERVENTION: Transsphenoidal removal yielded a diagnosis of immature teratoma. serum alpha-fetoprotein was prominently elevated. Magnetic resonance imaging and surgical findings of the superiorly displaced residual pituitary gland strongly suggest the pituitary origin of this rare tumor. CONCLUSION: In contrast to the neurohypophyseal germinomas, nongerminomatous malignant germ cell tumors originating from the pituitary gland tend not to be associated with diabetes insipidus and thus mimic adenomas. Evaluation of the tumor markers is necessary in young patients with cavernous sinus syndrome and invasive pituitary tumors with heterogeneous intensity revealed by magnetic resonance imaging. ( info) |
6/2574. Bronchioloalveolar carcinoma with metastasis to the pituitary gland: a case report. An unusual case of metastatic bronchioloalveolar carcinoma of the lung presented as a pituitary tumour in a young adult Chinese female, who subsequently died after having undergone trans-sphenoidal resection. Metastatic cancers of the pituitary are uncommon even in necropsy series and rarely give rise to clinical symptoms. This case draws attention to the fact that, although uncommon, pituitary metastases have been noted with increasing frequency and their distinction from primary pituitary tumours is often difficult. A metastatic pituitary tumour may be the initial presentation of an unknown primary malignancy, wherein the metastatic deposits may also be limited to the pituitary gland. Clinicians and pathologists alike should consider a metastatic lesion in the differential diagnosis of a non-functioning pituitary tumour. ( info) |
| A case of craniopharyngioma invading the nasal and paranasal sinuses and presenting as nasal obstruction is reported. Imaging showed a destructive mass of the skull base with involvement of the nose and paranasal sinuses. In the excised mass mitoses were frequent and the proliferation index was high. Invasion of the nasopharynx and presentation as a nasopharyngeal mass is uncommon for a craniopharyngioma. ( info) |
| Familial pituitary tumors are rare. Only 45 cases in 20 families with acromegaly have been reported. A third of the cases (30%) is related to multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (men 1). We report two cases of acromegaly in one family with pituitary macroadenomas. A 46-year-old woman with elevated serum growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor (IGF-1) and a failure to supress GH in the glucose tolerance test underwent transsphenoidal surgery 4 years ago. Three years later her 24-year-old son also presented with typical signs of acromegaly. A pituitary macroadenoma was identified by MRT and he also underwent transsphenoidal surgery. There were no symptoms of McCune-Albright syndrome or other forms of endocrine hyperfunction in the two patients. In an attempt to identify the molecular etiology of the tumours dna was extracted from paraffin fixed tissue from both patients. Exon 7 to 13 of the Gsp-protein and exons 1 to 10 of the menin gene were amplified by PCR. Although Gsp mutations have been identified in 40% of somatotroph tumors, direct sequencing of the PCR products showed no mutations in exons 7 to 13 of Gs alpha. Moreover no mutations were found in exons 1 to 10 of the menin gene. Therefore, molecular causes other than Gsp or menin gene mutations have to be considered as the molecular etiology of acromegaly in this family. ( info) |
9/2574. TSH-secreting pituitary macroadenoma: rapid tumor shrinkage and recovery from hyperthyroidism with octreotide. A 44-year-old man with atrial fibrillation caused by hyperthyroidism is described. The underlying disease was a TSH-secreting macroadenoma of the pituitary. Treatment with the somatostatin analog octreotide eliminated hyperthyroidism and atrial fibrillation within 4 days and the tumor size diminished substantially within 3 weeks. ( info) |
10/2574. Progression of a Nelson's adenoma to pituitary carcinoma; a case report and review of the literature. A 25-year-old woman developed Nelson's syndrome, 3 years after successful bilateral adrenalectomy for Cushing's disease. Despite pituitary surgery and radiotherapy the tumour showed invasive growth, leading to visual disturbance, paresis of the oculomotor nerve and, 34 years after adrenalectomy, to death by widespread purulent leptomeningitis. autopsy revealed a large adenohypophyseal carcinoma with a metastasis attached to the dura, both tumours showing immunocytochemical staining for ACTH and TSH. We review the literature on metastatic adenohypophyseal carcinoma in Cushing's disease and Nelson's syndrome and discuss the role of proliferation markers as indicators of malignant progression. ( info) |