title: Paraganglioma in pituitary fossa.
abstract: Paragangliomas are neuroendocrine tumors of paraganglionic tissue which are extremely rare in the sellar area. We present a case of sellar paraganglioma with parasellar and suprasellar extension in a 70-year-old man who presented with headache. CT demonstrated sellar mass with suprasellar and right parasellar extension. The lesion was removed subtotally via a trans-sphenoidal approach. Histopathological diagnosis was paraganglioma. Differential diagnosis between paragangliomas and unusual types of pituitary adenomas, especially null-cell adenomas, is made by presence of cell nests (Zellballen) in paraganglioma, lack of immunopositivity for pituitary hormones, cytoplasmic immunopositivity for chromogranin A and neuron-specific enolase, and immunonegativity for cytokeratin 19, cytokeratin 20 and endomysial antibody. In the case of a mass in the sellar region, paraganglioma, although rare, should be included in the differential diagnosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Cumhuriyet University Faculty of Medicine, Sivas, Turkey. ozum@cumhuriyet.edu.tr
authors.forename: Unal
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Ozüm
authors.forename: Reynah
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Eğilmez
authors.forename: Altan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yildirim
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D010236:Paraganglioma, Extra-Adrenal / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D010911:Pituitary Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed