title: Isolated abducens nerve palsy due to pituitary apoplexy after mild head trauma.
abstract: Pituitary apoplexy is a relatively rare condition. Cranial nerve palsies may develop due to compression of the surrounding structures by the rapidly expanding tumor. While the most commonly affected nerve is the oculomotor nerve, abducens nerve palsy may also occur less commonly. A 68-year-old male patient was admitted to the emergency department with complaints of severe headache, nausea, vomiting, and diplopia after head trauma due to falling. His magnetic resonance imaging evaluation demonstrated a large pituitary adenoma and bleeding into the tumor, which was acutely expanding and leading to compression of the abducens nerve laterally. Isolated abducens palsy due to posttraumatic pituitary apoplexy is a rare clinical condition, and as the symptoms and signs are nonspecific, it can commonly remain clinically undiagnosed. In this article, our aim was to draw attention to a clinical condition in which unfavorable complications may develop if the diagnosis is overlooked.
authors: Department of Emergency Medicine, Acıbadem University, School of Medicine, Istanbul, Turkey. Electronic address: kamilkayayurt@yahoo.com.
authors: Kamil
authors: K
authors: Kayayurt
authors: Department of Neurology, Recep Tayyip Erdogan University, Rize Research and Training Hospital, Rize, Turkey.
authors: Ömer Lütfi
authors: ÖL
authors: Gündogdu
authors: Department of Emergency Medicine, Recep Tayyip Erdogan University, Rize Research and Training Hospital, Rize, Turkey.
authors: Özcan
authors: Ö
authors: Yavaşi
authors: Department of Radiology, Recep Tayyip Erdogan University, Rize Research and Training Hospital, Rize, Turkey.
authors: Yavuz
authors: Y
authors: Metin
authors: Department of Emergency Medicine, Recep Tayyip Erdogan University, Rize Research and Training Hospital, Rize, Turkey.
authors: Erhan
authors: E
authors: Ugras
mesh_terms: D020434:Abducens Nerve Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D000368:Aged; D006259:Craniocerebral Trauma / Q000150:complications*; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010899:Pituitary Apoplexy / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*