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Endocrine Abstracts (2018) 56 P756 | DOI: 10.1530/endoabs.56.P756

Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío, Sevilla, Spain.


Introduction: Pituitary abscess (PA) is a rare condition, representing less than 1% of pituitary lessions. Only around 200 cases have been reported in the scientific literature. Preoperative diagnosis is often challenging due to nonspecific clinical and radiological manifestations.

Materials and methods: Retrospective descriptive cohort study. We analyze demographic and clinical variables, hormonal involvement, recurrence, type of surgery and antibiotic therapy. Data were obtained from electronic health records with patient’s informed consent.

Results: Seven cases were found mean age 54±31 years, 71.4% were women and a mean follow-up 4±10 years. At presentation, 100% reported headache, 57.1% (4) exhibited diabetes insipidus and 42.9% (3) had visual impairment. No cases presented with fever and leukocytosis was observed in 57.1%. Three of them (42.9%) were primary abscesses; three developed after pituitary adenoma surgery and 1 after Rathke’s cleft cyst surgery, with a mean time between surgery and abscess development of 4±15 years. All of them were submitted to transesfenoidal surgery. Panhypopituitarism was observed in 42.9% (3), ACTH, TSH and FSH/LH in 28.6% (2) and 2 presented isolated GH or TSH impairment. Four patients were diagnosed intraoperatively. Gram cultures were positive in 85.7% (6). The organisms isolated from the cultured material were Staphylococcus Aureus (42.9%, 3), P. Acnes (14.3%, 1) and Corynebacterium (14.3%, 1). Sequential antibiotic therapy with linezolid was used in 42.9% (3). After the initial operative and antibiotic treatment, cure was obtained in 85.7% of the patients and only one recidive of a primary abscess was observed 3 years after the first surgery.

Conclutions: We describe a large cohort of patients compared to the reported cases in the scientific literature. We observed a high cure rate in our serie, with just one case of recurrence, probably due to consecutive surgical and medical treatment.

Volume 56

20th European Congress of Endocrinology

Barcelona, Spain
19 May 2018 - 22 May 2018

European Society of Endocrinology 

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