title: Pituitary duplication with nasopharyngeal teratoma and cleft palate.
abstract: Pituitary gland duplication is a rare malformation of unknown cause that is often associated with a nasopharyngeal teratoma, among other secondary malformations. This clinical report describes a case of pituitary gland duplication with a nasopharyngeal teratoma, cleft palate, and hypothalamic hamartoma, as well as the surgical management of this patient. This case also raises the question of whether the nasopharyngeal teratoma is the cause of the pituitary duplication above and the cleft palate below or whether it is a result of the primary duplication of the notochordal process. Various theories are presented in an attempt to answer this question, but the exact cause of these malformations remains equivocal. Future research in this topic may elucidate the answer to this question.
authors.affiliation: University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky 40202, USA. mchariker@drchariker.com
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chariker
authors.forename: Rachel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ford
authors.forename: Clint
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Morrison
authors.forename: Anthony
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Theile
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Moeller
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Moriarty
mesh_terms: D002972:Cleft Palate / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D005774:Gastrostomy; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D009303:Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery*; D010902:Pituitary Gland / Q000002:abnormalities*; D013724:Teratoma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000601:surgery*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed