title: Lymphocytic hypophysitis. Case report.
abstract: Lymphocytic hypophysitis is a very unusual disease typically observed in the peripartum period but found also in non-pregnant women or in men. We report the case of a 50-year-old woman with a five-year history of erithema nodosus for which was treated with variable doses of steroids. One year before admission the patient began to complain of headache, amenorrhea and rapidly progressive hypopituitarism. Magnetic resonance imaging showed an expanding sellar mass with homogeneous contrast enhancement while lacking the hyperintense signal of posterior lobe. The MRI findings and the history of autoimmune disease raised the suspicion of hypophysitis. The growth of the lesion and its unresponsiveness to the prolonged steroid therapy made surgery, which is both diagnostic and therapeutic, mandatory. The pathogenesis, diagnosis and management of this unusual clinical condition are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Divisione di Neurochirurgia, Ospedale Galliera, Genova.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ruelle
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bernasconi
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tunesi
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Andrioli
mesh_terms: D004893:Erythema Nodosum / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000473:pathology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008875:Middle Aged; D010900:Pituitary Diseases / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D010902:Pituitary Gland / Q000473:pathology*