Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2021 Oct;37(10):3241-3244.
doi: 10.1007/s00381-021-05063-5. Epub 2021 Feb 1.

Primary pituitary abscess mimicking meningitis in a pediatric patient

Kadir Oktay  1 , Ebru Guzel  2 , Dogu Cihan Yildirim  3 , Araz Aliyev  3 , Ibrahim Sari  4 , Aslan Guzel  5
Affiliations
Case Reports

Primary pituitary abscess mimicking meningitis in a pediatric patient

Kadir Oktay et al. Childs Nerv Syst. 2021 Oct.

Abstract

Introduction: Pituitary abscess is a rare lesion of the pituitary gland that can cause morbidity and mortality in the absence of appropriate treatment. They are classified as primary and secondary pituitary abscesses. Primary pituitary abscesses occur in patients with no previous pituitary pathology. Secondary pituitary abscesses are detected in patients with existing pituitary pathologies.

Case presentation: We report a 16-year-old female patient with primary pituitary abscess who was misdiagnosed initially and treated as meningitis. Following the visual disturbances, pituitary abscess was diagnosed, and she underwent abscess drainage via endoscopic endonasal transsphenoidal surgery and antibiotic treatment.

Conclusion: Primary pituitary abscess can be clinically confused with other pathologies affecting the central nervous system. In order to avoid permanent sequelae in such patients, it should be kept in mind by physicians in similar cases. Satisfying results are obtained in these patients after appropriate treatment and dramatic improvement is achieved.

Keywords: Diagnosis; Endoscopic endonasal transsphenoidal surgery; Meningitis; Pituitary abscess.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Gao L, Guo X, Tian R, Wang Q, Feng M, Bao X, Deng K, Yao Y, Lian W, Wang R, Xing B (2017) Pituitary abscess: clinical manifestations, diagnosis and treatment of 66 cases from a large pituitary center over 23 years. Pituitary 20:189–194 - DOI
    1. Vates GE, Berger MS, Wilson CB (2001) Diagnosis and management of pituitary abscess: a review of twenty-four cases. J Neurosurg 95:233–241 - DOI
    1. Wang L, Yao Y, Feng F, Deng K, Lian W, Li G, Wang R, Xing B (2014) Pituitary abscess following transsphenoidal surgery: the experience of 12 cases from a single institution. Clin Neurol Neurosurg 124:66–71 - DOI
    1. Helsop TP (1848) A case of hypertrophy with abscess of the pituitary body. Dublin Quart J M 6:466–469
    1. Altas M, Serefhan A, Silav G, Cerci A, Coskun KK, Elmaci I (2013) Diagnosis and management of pituitary abscess: a case series and review of the literature. Turk Neurosurg 23:611–616 - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources