Intrasellar pituicytoma in a patient with other endocrine neoplasms.

ABSTRACT

Considered a neoplasm of pituicytes, pituicytoma is a rare and distinct type of glioma that arises in the suprasellar space and within the sella turcica. Only 12 previously reported cases of pituicytoma are documented in the literature. We report an intrasellar pituicytoma in a 66-year-old man presenting with symptoms and radiologic appearance indistinguishable from a nonfunctional pituitary adenoma. The patient also had a medical history significant for parathyroid adenomas and follicular carcinoma of the thyroid. The intrasellar tumor had morphologic features of a pituicytoma, with interlacing fascicles and a storiform pattern much like a benign fibrous histiocytoma. Immunoreactivity for S100 was strong, but the tumor lacked intercellular collagen type IV. The differential diagnosis of a low-grade spindle cell lesion of the sellar space is discussed, and the literature is reviewed. A summary of the clinical and pathologic features of this case, as well as the 12 previously reported cases, is presented.