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Case Reports
. 2011 Jan 11:2011:bcr0620103097.
doi: 10.1136/bcr.06.2010.3097.

Pituitary stalk craniopharyngioma

Eberval Gadelha Figueiredo  1 , Leonardo Christiaan Welling, Jose Weber Vieira de Faria, Manoel Jacobsen Teixeira
Affiliations
Case Reports

Pituitary stalk craniopharyngioma

Eberval Gadelha Figueiredo et al. BMJ Case Rep. .

Abstract

Craniopharyngiomas are benign but aggressive neoplasms arising along the craniopharyngeal duct. It is frequently located in the suprasellar region. Primarily pituitary stalk craniopharyngioma is unusual and uncommonly early diagnosed, before it enlarges and extends to supra or parasselar region. This unusual location and the small size pose therapeutic dilemmas, since it has the ability to grow larger. Currently, no consensus exists regarding the optimal management. The authors have recommended complete resection.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests None.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
(A) Presentation MRI scan: preoperative coronal T1-weighted MR image demonstrating a hypointense region lesion in the pituitary stalk (arrow). (B) Presentation MRI scan: preoperative sagittal T1-weighted MR image demonstrating an enhancing pituitary stalk and a hypointense region lesion in the pituitary stalk (arrow).
Figure 1
Figure 1
(A) Presentation MRI scan: preoperative coronal T1-weighted MR image demonstrating a hypointense region lesion in the pituitary stalk (arrow). (B) Presentation MRI scan: preoperative sagittal T1-weighted MR image demonstrating an enhancing pituitary stalk and a hypointense region lesion in the pituitary stalk (arrow).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Tumour histopathology. Photomicrograph showing light microscopy study of surgical specimen obtained in the pituitary stalk: palisaded columnar cell lining and wet keratin, demonstrating a typical craniopharyngioma of the adamatinomatous type.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Follow-up MRI scan: postoperative midsagittal image obtained demonstrated a normal sellar-suprasellar and pituitary stalk region.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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