GRANULAR-CELL TUMOR OF THE PITUITARY-STALK - CASE-REPORT

The case is described of a granular cell tumor of the pituitary stalk in a 40-year-old woman with secondary amenorrhea. A computerized tomog raphy scan showed a large contrast-enhancing mass, and T-1-weighted ma gnetic resonance images demonstrated a tumor isointense to the brain p arenchyma with nonhomogeneous enhancement after intravenous administra tion of gadolinium diethylenetriamine penta-acetic acid. Histopatholog ical examination, especially immunocytochemical and electron microscop ic studies, showed elements supporting an astrocytic origin for this t ype of tumor, a hypothesis advanced by many authors but still controve rsial.