title: A rare primary sellar melanoma. Case report.
abstract: The authors report on the case of a 37-year-old woman in whom a primary sellar malignant melanoma mimicking a hemorrhagic pituitary macroadenoma was treated. This entity is exceedingly rare; only five cases are described in the literature. The patient presented with rapid deterioration of vision within a 2-week period. After an ophthalmological diagnosis of chiasmal syndrome was made, magnetic resonance (MR) imaging of the head revealed an intra- and suprasellar mass that was elevating and compressing the optic chiasm. Because of the signal heterogeneity of the lesion a hemorrhagic pituitary macroadenoma was assumed; the lesion was transsphenoidally resected. Histological examination of the specimen showed a malignant melanocytic tumor with immunopositivity for S100 protein and HMB-45. Despite extensive staging no other primary melanotic tumor was found. Thus, a primary sellar melanoma was diagnosed. Postoperative MR images demonstrated no residual tumor. For adjuvant therapy the region around the sella turcica received 40.4 Gy stereotactically guided radiation. A 24-month follow-up examination revealed no tumor recurrence. This represents the sixth case of such a lesion reported in the literature, the third case evaluated using MR imaging, and the first case with a progression-free survival of 24 months. Thus, the authors advocate that management of primary sellar melanoma should include gross-total removal and postoperative stereotactic radiotherapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospital Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany. jochen.tuettenberg@nch.ma.uni-heidelberg.de
authors.forename: Jochen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tüttenberg
authors.forename: Wolfram
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Fink
authors.forename: Walter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Back
authors.forename: Frederik
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wenz
authors.forename: Dirk
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Schadendorf
authors.forename: Claudius
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Thomé
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008545:Melanoma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010911:Pituitary Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D016634:Radiosurgery; D012658:Sella Turcica / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D016896:Treatment Outcome