Acidophil stem cell pituitary adenoma: a case report and literature review

Abstract

In this article, we describe a very rare case of pituitary acidophilic stem cell adenoma, accompanied by a literature review. We present the case of 33-year-old woman with a history of amenorrhea, galactorrhea, elevated prolactin levels, and pituitary tumor. Despite suppression of prolactin levels with cabergoline, the pituitary tumor continued to increase in size and the patient developed clinical symptoms and biochemistry consistent with the diagnosis of acromegaly due to acidophilic stem cell adenoma, an extremely rare subtype of mixed growth hormone/prolactin adenoma, which behaves more aggressively and has a lower surgical cure rate compared to the pure GH-secreting adenoma. The patient had in vitro fertilization 2 years after the successful pituitary surgery and delivered healthy twins. To our knowledge, this is the only case report which describes acromegaly developing during cabergoline treatment. This case also highlights the importance of having a correct histopathological diagnosis to determine the behavior of the tumor and decide on further management.

Keywords: Acidophilic; Acromegaly; Pituitary adenoma; Pituitary stem cell adenoma.