Please wait a minute...
Journal of Zhejiang University-SCIENCE B (Biomedicine & Biotechnology)  2009, Vol. 10 Issue (7): 552-558    DOI: 10.1631/jzus.B0820355
Biomedicine     
Granulomatous hypophysitis: two case reports and literature review
Jian SHI, Jian-min ZHANG, Qun WU, Gao CHEN, Hong ZHANG, Wen-liang BO
Department of Neurosurgery, the Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310003, China; Department of Neurosurgery, Suichang People’s Hospital, Suichang 323000, China
Download:     PDF (0 KB)     
Export: BibTeX | EndNote (RIS)      

Abstract  Granulomatous hypophysitis (GRH) is extremely rare and commonly presents with chronic inflammatory of the enlarged pituitary gland. In our study, 66-year-old and 57-year-old women, both Chinese, were diagnosed with GRH presenting preoperatively definite imageology characters as pituitary adenoma. The 66-year-old woman presented with a year of headache, half a year of gradual decrease of visual acuity, and one month of right ptosis. Serum prolactin level was slightly elevated. Screening computed tomography (CT) scanning revealed typical low density mass found on the enlarged sella, which demonstrated invasive extension from the sella to the right cavernous sinus by contrast enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Consequently, the patient was diagnosed with probable invasive pituitary adenoma. The other 57-year-old woman complained a light headache and had been previously treated as nonfunctional pituitary adenoma in other hospital. Finally these two patients underwent transsphenoidal microsurgery and were diagnosed with GRH according to postoperative histopathology. They then were treated with steroid. During the follow-up, the clinical symptoms such as headache, visual damage, and ptosis vanished, and the mass of the sellae dramatically shrank on repeated MR images. Clinically and radiologically, GRH is a rare sellar entity easily to be misdiagnosed as a pituitary adenoma. Trans-sphenoidal surgery can decompress the optical nerve or oculomotornerve as a therapeutic strategy, and support biopsy or further pathological diagnosis. However, the hormonal therapy should be emphasized both as diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. Conservative and tentative steroid treatment should be performed in preoperative period without acute nerve damage.

Key wordsGranulomatous hypophysitis      Steroid treatment      Imageology      Trans-sphenoidal surgery     
Received: 03 November 2008     
CLC:  R742  
Cite this article:

Jian SHI, Jian-min ZHANG, Qun WU, Gao CHEN, Hong ZHANG, Wen-liang BO. Granulomatous hypophysitis: two case reports and literature review. Journal of Zhejiang University-SCIENCE B (Biomedicine & Biotechnology), 2009, 10(7): 552-558.

URL:

http://www.zjujournals.com/xueshu/zjus-b/10.1631/jzus.B0820355     OR     http://www.zjujournals.com/xueshu/zjus-b/Y2009/V10/I7/552

[1] Ying Zhang, Yu-xin Zheng, Jun-ming Zhu, Jian-min Zhang, Zhe Zheng. Effects of antiepileptic drugs on bone mineral density and bone metabolism in children: a meta-analysis[J]. Journal of Zhejiang University-SCIENCE B (Biomedicine & Biotechnology), 2015, 16(7): 611-621.
[2] Zhou-yan Feng, Xiao-jing Zheng, Cong Tian, Yang Wang, Hao-yu Xing. Changes of paired-pulse evoked responses during the development of epileptic activity in the hippocampus[J]. Journal of Zhejiang University-SCIENCE B (Biomedicine & Biotechnology), 2011, 12(9): 704-711.
[3] Lu Jia, Zhong-xin Zhao, Chao You, Jia-gang Liu, Si-qing Huang, Min He, Pei-gang Ji, Jie Duan, Yi-jun Zeng, Guo-ping Li. Minimally-invasive treatment of communicating hydrocephalus using a percutaneous lumboperitoneal shunt[J]. Journal of Zhejiang University-SCIENCE B (Biomedicine & Biotechnology), 2011, 12(4): 293-297.
[4] Zhou-yan FENG, Xiao-jing ZHENG, Jing WANG. Effects of carnosine on the evoked potentials in hippocampal CA1 region[J]. Journal of Zhejiang University-SCIENCE B (Biomedicine & Biotechnology), 2009, 10(7): 505-511.
[5] Wei-lung CHENG, Kao-chang LIN. Supplementary tests for confirmation of brain death[J]. Journal of Zhejiang University-SCIENCE B (Biomedicine & Biotechnology), 2008, 9(11): 921-922.
[6] Kang WANG, Yuan YUAN, Zi-qi XU, Xiao-liang WU, Ben-yan LUO. Benefits of combination of electroencephalography, short latency somatosensory evoked potentials, and transcranial Doppler techniques for confirming brain death[J]. Journal of Zhejiang University-SCIENCE B (Biomedicine & Biotechnology), 2008, 9(11): 916-920.
[7] ZHOU Xue-juan, ZHENG Kun. Treatment of 140 cerebral palsied children with a combined method based on traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and western medicine[J]. Journal of Zhejiang University-SCIENCE B (Biomedicine & Biotechnology), 2005, 6(1): 57-60.