title: Symptomatic Rathke's cleft cyst with a co-existing pituitary tumor; Brief review of the literature.
abstract: Pituitary adenomas and Rathke's cleft cysts (RCCs) share a common embryological origin. Occasionally, these two lesions can present within the same patient. We present a case of a 39-year-old male who was found to have a large sellar lesion after complaints of persistent headaches and horizontal nystagmus. Surgical resection revealed components of a RCC co-existing with a pituitary adenoma. A brief review of the literature was performed revealing 38 cases of co-existing Rathke's cleft cysts and pituitary adenomas. Among the cases, the most common symptoms included headache and visual changes. Rathke's cleft cysts and pituitary adenomas are rarely found to co-exist, despite having common embryological origins. We review the existing literature, discuss the common embryology to these two lesions and describe a unique case from our institution of a co-existing Rathke's cleft cyst and pituitary adenoma.
authors.affiliation: Division of Neurosurgery, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Ranjith
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Babu
authors.affiliation: Division of Neurosurgery, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Adam G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Back
authors.affiliation: Division of Neurosurgery, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Jordan M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Komisarow
authors.affiliation: Division of Neurosurgery, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Timothy R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Owens
authors.affiliation: Division of Pathology, Department of Surgery, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Thomas J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Cummings
authors.affiliation: Division of Neurosurgery, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Gavin W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Britz
keywords: Adenoma; Rathke's cleft cyst; development; neoplasm; pituitary; sella; tumor