Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to C C Penney.
Whilst pituitary adenomas are the commonest cause of a sellar mass, there are a number of other neoplastic, infectious, inflammatory, developmental and vascular aetiologies that should be considered by the radiologist. We discuss and illustrate these lesions and indicate the various magnetic resonance imaging features that are helpful in formulating an appropriate differential diagnosis.
OBJECTIVE AND IMPORTANCE: Although other focal signs may prove "false localizing," it is a neurosurgical axiom that unilateral fixed dilation of the pupil occurs ipsilateral to a supratentorial mass. CLINICAL PRESENTATION: A 25-year-old man collapsed with a dense right hemiplegia and a Glasgow Coma Scale score of 6 (eye opening, 1; motor, 4; verbal, 1) after rupture of a left middle cerebral artery aneurysm associated with an intrasylvian hematoma. Initially, both pupils had remained equal-sized and reactive: however, within hours, the right (contralateral) pupil became fixed and dilated (i.e., false localizing). For some time, the left (ipsilateral) pupil remained small and reactive; at emergency craniotomy, this also became fixed and equally dilated. INTERVENTION: After evacuation of the clot and wrapping of the aneurysm, both pupils rapidly became equal-sized and reactive. Twenty-four hours later, concurrent with massive left hemispheric swelling and a midline shift, the left (ipsilateral) pupil became unilaterally fixed and dilated (i.e., false localizing). Eventually, the right (contralateral) pupil also became fixed and dilated, concurrent with cardiovascular collapse. Death occurred within 10 hours. CONCLUSION: Unilateral fixed dilation of the pupil in patients with hemispheric mass lesions may be false localizing. Furthermore, disparate "herniating mechanisms" can arise despite mass effect emanating from the same side. Because such mechanisms cannot be witnessed, their nature remains speculative. An extensive review is contained in this article.
It has been argued in recent years that angiography is no longer essential before undertaking a carotid endarterectomy, relying solely on a carotid duplex scan. A case is presented where an extra-cranial branch of the internal carotid artery was found at surgery. This unexpected finding was obviated having obtained preoperative angiograms. Anomalies of the internal carotid artery are reviewed.
A 24-year-old woman presented with a 7-week history of headache and left frontal scalp swelling. A plain radiograph and CT demonstrated a 2-cm lytic lesion in the frontal bone which was excised via craniotomy. Histology showed this to be an osteoma. Osteomas very rarely, if ever, appear as lytic lesions. The differential and radiological diagnoses are discussed.
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