Pituitary symptomatic salivary gland rest cyst: case report

Although salivary gland rest in posterior pituitary is frequently observed during microscopic examination at autopsy, this rest tissue rarely causes clinical symptoms. So far, only three symptomatic salivary gland rest cyst in pituitary was reported. The author reports the 4(th) case of symptomatic pituitary salivary gland rest cyst in 26-year-old woman presenting with severe headache. The lesion showed hyperdense shadow on computed tomography, high signal on T1-weighted image and low signal on T2-weighted image magnetic resonance imaging. There was no enhancement of the mass after gadolinium injection. Trans-sphenoidal approach revealed that the cyst wall consisted of normal appearing salivary gland and gelatinous cyst content. Although the pituitary salivary gland rest cyst is rarely symptomatic, it should be take into consideration in the differential diagnosis of pituitary lesions.