Rathke's cleft cyst with large frontal extension: unusual shape and pathomechanism of its formation

The patient was a 62 year old woman who presented with a visual field defec t. Magnetic resonance images showed an intra-and supra-sellar low intensity mass on T1 weighted images. The preoperative diagnosis was craniopharyngio ma, Rathke's cleft cyst (RCC) or arachnoid cyst. The patient underwent tran ssphenoidal surgery & the pathological diagnosis was RCC. We conclude that although RCC has a round, ovoid or dumb-bell shaped config uration, it may present a unusual shape in cases with preconditions, as wer e seen in our patient. (C) 2000 Harcourt Publishers Ltd.