title: Rathke's cleft cyst with large frontal extension: unusual shape and pathomechanism of its formation.
abstract: The patient was a 62 year old woman who presented with a visual field defect. Magnetic resonance images showed an intra-and supra-sellar low intensity mass on T1 weighted images. The preoperative diagnosis was craniopharyngioma, Rathke's cleft cyst (RCC) or arachnoid cyst. The patient underwent transsphenoidal surgery & the pathological diagnosis was RCC. We conclude that although RCC has a round, ovoid or dumb-bell shaped configuration, it may present a unusual shape in cases with preconditions, as were seen in our patient.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurological Surgery, Chiba University School of Medicine, Kawatetsu Chiba Hospital, Japan. saeki@med.m.chiba-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Saeki
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hoshi
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sunada
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sunami
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yamaura
mesh_terms: D020863:Central Nervous System Cysts / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged