Intrasellar arachnoid cyst: A case report and review of the literature

Mustafa Güdük; Murat HamitAytar; Aydın Sav; Zafer Berkman

doi:10.1016/j.ijscr.2016.03.033

Intrasellar arachnoid cyst: A case report and review of the literature

Int J Surg Case Rep. 2016:23:105-8. doi: 10.1016/j.ijscr.2016.03.033. Epub 2016 Mar 26.

Authors

Mustafa Güdük¹, Murat HamitAytar², Aydın Sav³, Zafer Berkman²

Affiliations

¹ Acıbadem University School of Medicine Department of Neurosurgery, Istanbul, Turkey. Electronic address: mustafaguduk@gmail.com.
² Acıbadem University School of Medicine Department of Neurosurgery, Istanbul, Turkey.
³ Acıbadem University School of Medicine Department of Pathology, Istanbul, Turkey.

Abstract

Introduction: Arachnoid cysts (ACs) are frequently found on intracranial imaging studies but intrasellar arachnoid cysts are rarely encountered.

Presentation of case: We present a 49-year old patient who had headaches for 6 months and cystic sellar mass was found in his cranial imaging. We operated him by transnasal transsphenoidal route. Our intraoperative diagnosis was an arachnoid cyst and pathologic studies verified our observation. He did well postoperatively and after a 1year follow-up he was left free from future follow-ups.

Discussion: As common cystic lesions occupying the sellar region can simulate ACs both clinically and radiologically, neurosurgeon can fail to include ACs in making the initial diagnosis preoperatively.

Conclusion: Although a rare entity, arachnoid cysts should be considered in the differential diagnosis of sellar region.

Keywords: Arachnoid cyst; Case report; Sellar arachnoid cyst; Sellar cysts.