Türk Nöroşirürji Dergisi 2008 , Vol 18 , Num 3
A Case Report: Rathke Cleft Cyst
Ali Özcan BİNATLI1, Hüseyin KURT2, Fikret BAŞKAN3, Engin ÇİFTÇİ4, Nurcan ÖZDAMAR5
1, 2, 3, 4 S.B. Tepecik Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi, Beyin Cerrah Kliniği, İzmir
5 Ege Üniversitesi, Beyin Cerrahi Anabilim Dalı, İzmir
Rathke cleft cysts are uncommon lesions of the pituitary gland but they are frequently seen in autopsy series. Rathke cleft cysts are benign but they are important causes of endocrine and visual symptoms. Generally they are small and asymptomatic but they may also be symptomatic (1). Clinically they have three major features: headache, endocrine abnormality and visual loss. An endocrine abnormality is seen in 50% of the cases and is the most common symptom. The most frequent endocrine abnormalities are hyperprolactinemia, gonadotropin insufficiency, panhypopituitarism, hypothyroidism and hypocortisolism (2, 8). The surgical procedure can be transsphenoidal or transcranial (subfrontal, pterional, transventricular), depending on the localisation of the cyst. In our case we preferred the transcranial approach as the cyst was symptomatic and had a suprasellar localisation. There was no evidence of residual mass or relapse in the postoperative MRI. Anahtar Kelimeler : Endocrine abnormality, Pituitary gland, Rathke cleft cysts