title: Lymphocytic adenohypophysitis: skull radiographs and MRI.
abstract: We report the skull radiograph, CT and MRI findings in three patients with lymphocytic adenohypophysitis mimicking pituitary adenoma. All cases were associated with pregnancy. CT demonstrated a pituitary mass but did not differentiate lymphocytic adenohypophysitis from pituitary adenoma. The skull radiographs showed either a normal sella turcica or minimal abnormalities; they did not show ballooning or destruction. The MRI appearances were distinctive: relatively low signal on T1-weighted images; preservation of the bright posterior pituitary lobe despite the presence of a relatively large pituitary mass, less common in macroadenomas; marked contrast enhancement compared with pituitary macroadenomas; and dural enhancement adjacent to a pituitary mass.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Kobe Central Municipal Hospital, Hyogo, Japan.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Saiwai
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Inoue
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ishihara
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Matsumoto
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nemoto
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tashiro
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hakuba
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Miyamoto
mesh_terms: D000236:Adenoma / Q000175:diagnosis; D000328:Adult; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000473:pathology; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D010900:Pituitary Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D010903:Pituitary Gland, Anterior / Q000473:pathology; D010911:Pituitary Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed