Rare case of symptomatic empty sella syndrome in a patient treated with intrathecal chemotherapy for acute myeloid leukemia

Abstract

The sella turcica is the normal neuroanatomical location of the pituitary gland. Empty sella syndrome (ESS) is a rare condition in which the sella turcica is partially or completely filled with cerebrospinal fluid. It is a radiological diagnosis that is often made incidentally following imaging for another reason (eg, to exclude intracranial hemorrhage following head injury) or as part of the work-up when investigating a patient's neurological symptoms. ESS can be classified as primary or secondary, depending on the identification of underlying etiologies. We report the highly unusual case of a 74-year-old patient who presented with progressive neurological disturbance many years after receiving intrathecal chemotherapy. Clinical assessment (including cross-sectional imaging) led to a diagnosis of secondary ESS.

Keywords

• Empty sella syndrome
• Sella turcica
• Hypophyseal fossa
• Computed tomography
• Magnetic resonance imaging