Pituitary lymphoma presenting as fever of unknown origin

Abstract

An 86-yr-old woman presented with fever of unknown origin. When laboratory evaluation revealed partial hypopituitarism, a magnetic resonance imaging scan of the head was performed and revealed a sellar mass consistent with a pituitary adenoma. Only after other possible etiologies for fever were excluded did she undergo transsphenoidal resection of the sellar mass, which proved to be a B-cell lymphoma. Primary central nervous system lymphoma of the pituitary region is a rare cause of a sellar mass, and this is the first reported case of pituitary lymphoma whose presenting manifestation was fever of unknown origin. Several disease processes can manifest themselves as fever and a sellar mass, including lymphomas. In our case, only surgical biopsy could make a diagnosis and distinguish this process from the more common pituitary adenoma.