title: Trigeminal Neuralgia as an Unusual Isolated Symptom of Pituitary Adenoma: Case Report and Review of the Literature.
abstract: Pituitary adenomas account for approximately 10% of intracranial tumors and 5% are locally invasive. Cavernous sinus invasion by pituitary tumors presents mostly with cranial nerve palsies, especially involving the third, fourth and sixth cranial nerves, which is well documented in the literature. However, an isolated complaint of trigeminal neuralgia due to pituitary adenoma is an extremely rare entity with a limited number of reported cases. A 51-year-old female patient presented to our clinic with complaints of pain and numbness on the left side of face for six months, with each event lasting 5-10 seconds. No improvement was obtained with administration of carbamazepine therapy. Magnetic resonance imaging of the sellar region revealed a mass with the left cavernous sinus invasion. The patient underwent surgery via endoscopic transsphenoidal approach and after than radiosurgery with gamma-knife. The patient's complaints resolved totally after gamma-knife radiosurgery. We report herein a case of pituitary adenoma with an isolated complaint of trigeminal neuralgia. Pituitary adenomas may be presented with cavernous sinus invasion and multiple cranial nerve palsies but isolated trigeminal neuralgia due to pituitary adenoma is an extremely rare entity.
authors.affiliation: Ankara Ataturk Education and Research Hospital, Department of Neurosurgery, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Oktay
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Gurcan
authors.forename: Ahmet Gurhan
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Gurcay
authors.forename: Atilla
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kazanci
authors.forename: Ali Erdem
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Yildirim
authors.forename: Omer Faruk
authors.initials: OF
authors.lastname: Turkoglu
authors.forename: Hatice Ferhan
authors.initials: HF
authors.lastname: Komurcu
authors.forename: Ethem
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Beskonakli
mesh_terms: D000236:Adenoma / Q000150:complications* / Q000601:surgery; D002426:Cavernous Sinus / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008875:Middle Aged; D010911:Pituitary Neoplasms / Q000150:complications* / Q000601:surgery; D016634:Radiosurgery; D014277:Trigeminal Neuralgia / Q000209:etiology*