Development of Pituitary Apoplexy in a Patient with Meningioma and Pituitary Macroadenoma: A Case Report

Abstract

Although pituitary adenomas and meningiomas are among the commonly encountered benign tumors, the co-existence of these tumors is rare. One of the most important complications of pituitary adenomas is the development of apoplexy, often resulting in death if left untreated. In this article, we present a patient admitted to the emergency department with complaints of sudden-onset headache, nausea, vomiting, and optic nerve paralysis. On examination, the case was found to have parietal lobe meningioma and pituitary adenoma. Therefore, the case underwent emergent transsphenoidal surgery considering pituitary apoplexy and was treated with l-thyroxine and hydrocortisone in the post-operative period. Although the co-existence of a pituitary adenoma and a meningioma is known in the literature, such a co-existence with apoplexy is the first case to be described in the literature.

Keywords

• apoplexy
• hypophysis
• meningioma
• pituitary adenoma