Pituitary abscess: report of four cases and review of literature

Abstract

Pituitary abscess is a rare disorder and its presenting manfestations are non-specific therefore, the diagnosis is usually made either postoperatively or at postmortem. We describe four such cases seen over a period of 10 years. All the patients presented with fever, systemic signs of toxaemia and endocrine dysfunctions. Two of them had pre-existing pituitary pathology. A preoperative diagnosis of pituitary abscess was considered in all in view of characteristic MR findings. Three patients underwent transsphenoidal drainage of abscess, whereas the remaining one succumbed to sepsis and was diagnosed at necropsy. Offending organisms including Pseudomonas, Acinetobacter and Staphylococcus were isolated in three cases respectively. During follow-up for 4 years, 2 patients are doing well, one had a recurrent abscess after 1 year and required redo-surgery.