MAGNETIC-RESONANCE CHARACTERIZATION OF A LONG-STANDING PITUITARY ABSCESS

A 56-year-old male patient with panhypopituitarism is presented. Magne tic resonance (MR) examination of the pituitary region revealed a pitu itary mass with markedly increased signal intensity on T1-weighted ima ges and low signal intensity on T2-weighted images. At surgery, a larg e amount of purulent material was removed. At light microscopy, the ti ssue was demonstrated to be a pituitary abscess occurring in an otherw ise normal pituitary gland. The high signal intensity on T1-weighted i mages does not correspond to the only MR description of a pituitary ab scess given until now, reporting a mass isointense to white matter. Th ese signal characteristics could emanate from the presence of small am ounts of blood breakdown products in the proteinaceous content of the abscess. MR appearance of a pituitary abscess is possibly aspecific an d could depend on the pathological composition of the lesion.