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Intrasellar bony spine, a possible cause of hypopituitarism

Abs R, Van Breusegem L, Verhaert G, Smet H, Parizel PM. Intrasellar bony spine, a possible cause of hypopituitarism. Eur J Endocrinol 1995;132:82–5. ISSN 0804–4643

A 39-year-old male patient with long-standing pituitary deficiency is reported. The onset of hypopituitarism was probably at about the age of 12 years, but diagnosis was not made until 6 years later. Since then he has received substitutive hormonal treatment and was referred with complaints suggestive of growth hormone deficiency. Retrospective study of a skull radiography performed at the age of 18 years revealed a calcified lesion in the sellar region. Additional radiological examinations showed the presence of a 9-mm intrasellar bony spine. Magnetic resonance examination showed a ventrally extending arrow-shaped bone deformation in continuity with the dorsum sellae, consisting of a hyperintense structure comparable with the intensity of the bone marrow of the dorsum and clivus. Computed tomography scanning confirmed in detail the morphology of the bony spine. This deformity probably represents the non-regressed cephalic segment of the notochord. Only in four reports has the existence of this congenital abnormality been described, but this is the first one in which hypopituitarism can be regarded as a complication of the intrasellar spine.

R Abs University of Antwerp, Department of Endocrinology, Universiteitsplein 1, B-2610 Wilrijk, Belgium

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