A case report of lymphocytic hypophysitis

Abstract

Background: Lymphocytic hypophysitis (LH) is a rare condition that mostly affects women of the reproductive age. Because it is infrequently encountered, it is not often considered as a differential diagnosis of sellar masses. The diagnosis is made clinically with the aid of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and should be considered if the patient has endocrine derangements in addition to a sellar mass.

Case description: A 37-year-old female presents with a complaint of headaches and CT imaging showed a sellar mass. She was also being investigated simultaneously by the endocrine department and was diagnosed with panhypopituitarism. She proceeded to surgery for a presumed pituitary adenoma but histopathology returned as LH.

Conclusion: It is important to have a wide differential diagnosis when managing pituitary masses. Clinical correlation with atypical MRI findings is useful to determine the diagnosis of LH.

Keywords: Hypophysitis; Neuroendocrine; Neuroradiology.

Figure 1:

(a and b) MRI imaging of the pituitary lesion in the coronal and sagittal planes.