Pituitary metastasis: Two case reports

Abstract

The authors present 2 uncommon cases of pituitary lesions that were histologically verified as metastatic cancer. Case 1: A 48-year-old female had frequent episodes of nausea, vomitting and weight loss. Case 2: A 67- year-old male was admitted with general fatigue and double vision. MRI demonstrated pituitary lesions in both cases. The patients underwent transsphenoidal surgery, and pathological examinations confirmed metastatic adenocarcinoma in the pituitary gland. Metastatic tumors in the pituitary gland are uncommon and differential diagnosis is sometimes difficult even using modern neuroimaging techniques. The characteristic feature of these uncommon lesions is discussed along with a review of the literature. In this report, the authors demonstrated that dynamic MRI is useful for differential diagnosis between pituitary adenoma and pituitary metastasis.