Pituicytoma. Two case reports.
Pituicytoma is a rare tumor in the sellar or suprasellar region with distinct histological characteristics of glial neoplasm. A 42-year-old woman presented with a history of amenorrhea and vertigo, and a 62-year-old woman presented with mild headache. Both patients had mild hyperprolactinemia and one had mild anterior pituitary dysfunction. They underwent transcranial partial resection of a suprasellar tumor. The tumors were characterized by storiform pattern of elongated cells immunoreactive for S-100 protein and glial fibrillary acidic protein. Ultrastructural study showed abundant cytoplasmic intermediate filaments and tumor/blood vessel basal lamina, but no desmosomes between tumor cells. The residual tumors showed no changes in size without adjuvant therapy at 56 and 18 months after surgery. Pituicytoma is a glial neoplasm of adults with low proliferative activity. Patients often present with visual symptoms or anterior pituitary dysfunction. Symptoms and signs of neurohypophysis are rare. Neuroimaging reveals an intra- or suprasellar mass with non-specific features. The prognosis and role of adjuvant therapy remain unclear for this discrete noninfiltrative glioma.
Division of Neurosurgery, Shizuoka Cancer Center, Shizuoka. y.nakasu@scchr.jp
Yoko
Y
Nakasu
Satoshi
S
Nakasu
Akira
A
Saito
Satoshi
S
Horiguchi
Toru
T
Kameya
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D005910:Glioma / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010911:Pituitary Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery*