COMBINED NEURONAL AND ENDOCRINE TUMORS OF THE SELLAR REGION

Gangliocytomas or gangliogliomas of the sellar region are very rare tu mors. In a great proportion of those cases an adenoma of the anterior pituitary develops from the cell type that is hyperstimulated by the r eleasing hormone produced from the gangliocytoma. Five GHRH secreting gangliocytomas are reported. Four of these were localized adjacent to a GH secreting adenoma. In one case, no adenoma tissue was found besid e the ganglicytoma. As only the adenomas can secrete GH,the adenomas a nd not the gangliocytomas are directly responsible for acromegaly so t hat such an adenoma has to be present in cases of acromegaly. A CRH se creting gangliocytoma was combined with an ACTH cell adenoma that had induced Gushing's disease. A ganglioglioma of the posterior pituitary had led to an inappropriate secretion of Vasopressin. The morphology o f the different tumors is presented.