Pituitary abscess: Report of three cases

Abstract

Pituitary abscess is a rare but potentially life-threatening disease. Headache, visual disturbance, and hypopituitarism are the most common presenting symptoms of pituitary abscess. On magnetic resonance imaging(MRI), pituitary abscess may present as a round sellar cystic lesion, hypo- or isointense on T1 imaging and hyper- or isointense on T2 imaging with peripheral gadolinium enhancement. Diagnosis usually is made during surgical exploration when pus is found in a cystic lesion. The mainstay of treatment is transsphenoidal surgical resection in combination with antibiotic therapy, although a craniotomy approach is warranted in select conditions. Here we report 3 cases of pituitary abscess in our hospital and review the literatures. Key words: Pituitary abscess; MRI; Diagnosis; Therapy