title: Pituitary abscess presenting a very rapid progression: report of a fatal case.
abstract: Pituitary abscess is a rare disease presenting with nonspecific clinical symptoms, and diagnosis is often difficult. This disease is potentially life-threatening, but most cases have a chronic and indolent course. We report a case of a 60-year-old man with a pituitary abscess associated with pituitary adenoma who died 5 days after the onset of clinical symptoms without a definitive diagnosis. Postmortem computed tomography and autopsy findings revealed a sellar mass with cystic change and extension toward the optic chiasm. Histopathology of the lesion demonstrated an abscess with suppurative meningitis and encephalitis. The disturbance of the cardiac autonomic nervous system because of hypothalamus involvement was suggested as the cause of rapid progression and death. This case provides useful information for clinicians to avoid a lethal outcome.
authors: Department of Forensic Medicine and Molecular Pathology, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan. kotani@fp.med.kyoto-u.ac.jp
authors: Hirokazu
authors: H
authors: Kotani
authors: Hitoshi
authors: H
authors: Abiru
authors: Masashi
authors: M
authors: Miyao
authors: Yu
authors: Y
authors: Kakimoto
authors: Chihiro
authors: C
authors: Kawai
authors: Munetaka
authors: M
authors: Ozeki
authors: Tatsuaki
authors: T
authors: Tsuruyama
authors: Keiji
authors: K
authors: Tamaki
mesh_terms: D000038:Abscess / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology*; D000236:Adenoma / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology; D018450:Disease Progression; D049429:Forensic Pathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010900:Pituitary Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology*; D010911:Pituitary Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed