Ruptured dermoid cyst of the lateral cavernous sinus wall with temporary symptoms: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Dermoid cysts are non-neoplastic tumors that arise from defects in the separation of the neuroectoderm. Cyst rupture rarely occurs spontaneously and the most common symptom is headache, followed by seizure. Although many cases of ruptured dermoid cysts present with symptoms, reports of cases that are asymptomatic, or where symptoms disappear, are rare. CASE PRESENTATION: We report the case of a 66-year-old Asian man with a history of sudden onset headache who was found to have high amounts of fat material in the subarachnoid space and a fat suppression mass in the left cavernous sinus. He underwent oral steroid therapy. Five days after starting medication his headache symptoms disappeared. Routine neurological imaging was then performed without surgical procedure. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed evidence of the remains of a static lesion 6 months after his first visit. He has remained headache free for 10 months since the initial event. CONCLUSIONS: Although cases of ruptured dermoid cysts presenting with consistent symptoms have been commonly reported, until now there were few reports on asymptomatic cases or cases where symptoms disappeared. We believe that surgical intervention is unnecessary for ruptured dermoid cysts with minimal symptoms.

Neuroimaging characteristics and growth pattern on magnetic resonance imaging in a 52-year-old man presenting with pituicytoma: a case report.

INTRODUCTION: Pituicytoma is a rare neoplasm of the neurohypophysis. To the best of our knowledge there have been no reports of pituicytoma in which long-term magnetic resonance imaging observation was performed. We calculated the doubling time of the tumor volume and described the growth pattern of a pituicytoma. CASE PRESENTATION: A 52-year-old Japanese man with a history of decreased libido was found to have a sellar and suprasellar mass. He underwent transsphenoidal surgery, but only a small specimen was obtained because of intraoperative bleeding. The tentative histological diagnosis was schwannoma. He noticed bitemporal hemianopsia 7 years later. A follow-up magnetic resonance imaging disclosed a tumor volume doubling time of 3830 days. Transcranial gross-total tumor resection was performed. The lesion consisted of elongated and plump tumor cells that were arranged in a fascicular or storiform pattern and were positive for S-100 protein and focally positive for glial fibrillary acidic protein. The final histological diagnosis was pituicytoma. CONCLUSION: Pituicytoma is a slow-growing tumor, but the growth rate may change during follow-up.