title: Post-partum pituitary apoplexy with bilateral third nerve palsy and bilateral carotid occlusion.
abstract: This study describes a patient with post-partum collapse secondary to pituitary apoplexy with bilateral carotid artery occlusion. A 29-year-old female, post delivery of a healthy child, presented with a Glasgow Coma Scale score of 3, fixed dilated pupils, complete ophthalmoplegia, and bilateral compression of the internal carotid arteries. These symptoms were due to a giant pituitary macroadenoma. She underwent a craniotomy and subsequently survived with minor cognitive deficits and functional vision. Bilateral carotid occlusion caused by pituitary apoplexy is rare, yet survival with only minor deficits is possible.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Westmead Public Hospital, Hawkesbury Road, Westmead, New South Wales 2145, Australia. vanessa@med.usyd.edu.au
authors.forename: Vanessa
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Perotti
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dexter
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001157:Arterial Occlusive Diseases / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D001921:Brain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D018810:Magnetic Resonance Angiography / Q000379:methods; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D015840:Oculomotor Nerve Diseases / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D010899:Pituitary Apoplexy / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods