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Case Reports
. 2021 Jan 2;5(3):bvaa203.
doi: 10.1210/jendso/bvaa203. eCollection 2021 Mar 1.

A Rare Case of SARS-CoV-2 Infection Associated With Pituitary Apoplexy Without Comorbidities

Ritwik Ghosh  1 , Dipayan Roy  2 , Devlina Roy  1 , Arpan Mandal  1 , Aloke Dutta  1 , Dinabandhu Naga  1 , Julián Benito-León  3   4   5
Affiliations
Case Reports

A Rare Case of SARS-CoV-2 Infection Associated With Pituitary Apoplexy Without Comorbidities

Ritwik Ghosh et al. J Endocr Soc. .

Abstract

Pituitary apoplexy is a medical and surgical emergency caused by hemorrhage or infarction of the hypophysis, which typically occurs within a pituitary adenoma. It is usually characterized by severe (often thunderclap) headache, visual disturbances, cranial nerve impairments, and hormonal deficiencies. We herein report a case of a previously healthy woman with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection associated with pituitary apoplexy. The plausible pathophysiological mechanisms of pituitary apoplexy in infectious coronavirus disease 2019 are discussed.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; pituitary apoplexy.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging of the brain revealing a well-defined “snowman-shaped” large heterogeneous solid-cystic lesion in the suprasellar region (measuring 24 × 25 × 31 mm) with fluid-fluid levels and predominantly cystic component. The cystic component showed various signal intensities both on T1-weighted (A, axial and B, sagittal views) and T2-weighted (C, coronal view) images. Foci of blooming on gradient echo images were observed within the lesion (more on the anterior aspect of the fluid-fluid level) (D, axial view).
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
A brief timeline of the clinical course of the patient from symptom onset.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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