Metastatic lesions in the sella turcica and pituitary gland

Abstract

The sella turcica with adjacent osseous tissues was examined histologically in 60 cases of carcinoma which came to postmortem examination in the course of one year. Forty‐nine of the specimens were also examined by roentgenography. Sixteen contained metastatic lesions, 9 of which originated from the breast. Statistical analysis showed that the incidence of sellar metastases was significantly higher for carcinoma of the breast than for all other neoplasms. Involvement of the sella was positively correlated with other skeletal metastases. X‐ray examination was found to be a relatively insensitive method for detecting metastatic lesions in the sella. Copyright © 1970 American Cancer Society