title: Neurosarcoidosis manifesting as tremor of the extremities and severe hypopituitarism: case report.
abstract: A 48-year-old woman initially presented with significant tremor of the extremities and subsequent severe hypopituitarism. Magnetic resonance imaging showed hyperintense areas in bilateral caudate heads and putamina, and a pituitary mass. L-dopa and corticosteroid were given and the tremor was reduced. Serum markers including autoimmune diseases were negative. Computed tomography and positron emission tomography detected no abnormalities except for pituitary lesion. Transsphenoidal biopsy revealed a noncaseating granuloma including giant cells with destroyed pituitary gland. The diagnosis was sarcoidosis. Diagnosis of isolated neurosarcoidosis is definitely difficult. Biopsy may be essential to establish the diagnosis in such a case. Corticosteroid administration is strongly recommended to avoid irreversible damage to the normal tissues even if histological confirmation was not achieved.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Kohnan Hospital, Sendai, Miyagi, Japan. yogawa@kohnan-sendai.or.jp
authors.forename: Yoshikazu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ogawa
authors.forename: Teiji
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tominaga
authors.forename: Hidetoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ikeda
mesh_terms: D001480:Basal Ganglia Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D001706:Biopsy; D002421:Caudate Nucleus / Q000473:pathology; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007018:Hypopituitarism / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009460:Neurologic Examination; D010900:Pituitary Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D010901:Pituitary Function Tests; D010902:Pituitary Gland / Q000473:pathology; D049268:Positron-Emission Tomography; D011699:Putamen / Q000473:pathology; D012507:Sarcoidosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014202:Tremor / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology