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Updated: Mar 13, 2026

Double Direct Injection of Blood into the Cisterna Magna as a Model of Subarachnoid Hemorrhage
Published on: August 30, 2020
Rathke Cleft Cyst with Evidence of Rupture into Subarachnoid Space
Hiroshi Yokota1, Yuki Ida2, Daisuke Wajima2
1Department of Neurosurgery, Nabari City Hospital, Nabari, Mie, Japan; Department of Neurosurgery, Nara Medical University, Kashihara, Nara, Japan.
Background:
A Rathke cleft cyst (RCC) with nonhemorrhagic rupture mimicking pituitary apoplexy has been reported rarely.
Case Description:
A 52-year-old woman, previously diagnosed with asymptomatic RCC, came to us with a severe headache, along with visual dysfunction and symptoms of pituitary insufficiency. Fluid-attenuated inversion recovery magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated diffuse hyperintensity in the cerebral cisterns, whereas watery clear cerebrospinal fluid was obtained by lumbar puncture. Surgery performed 1 month after onset revealed a nonhemorrhagic lesion, with a final diagnosis of nonhemorrhagic RCC rupture.
Conclusions:
We conclude that nonhemorrhagic RCC rupture and subsequent leakage of the contents into subarachnoid space were the underlying pathogenesis in the present case of RCC resembling apoplexy.

