[A Case of Primary Intrasellar Chondroid Chordoma]

Intracranial chordomas are thought to arise from remnants of the notochord and usually occur at the parasellar region. We present a case of a primary intrasellar chondroid chordoma in a patient who was initially diagnosed with a pituitary adenoma.

A 77-year-old woman had a history of two surgeries for a tumor in the sella turcica(17 months after the 1^st surgery). On initial MRI, the intrasellar mass showed low signal intensity on T1WI, very high signal intensity on T2WI, and inhomogeneous enhancement. On bone reconstructive CT, the sellar floor was thin, and no abnormalities were observed at the top of the clivus. Transsphenoidal surgery was performed. The pathological diagnosis was pituitary adenoma in both cases. Seventy-two months after the 1^st(31 months after the 2^nd)surgery, she developed right-sided oculomotor and abducent nerve palsies again. Since recurrence occurred during the relatively short period, the surgical specimens obtained from the 1^st and 2^nd surgeries were reexamined. Reexamination of the previously obtained specimen demonstrated areas of chondroid tissue that were embedded in a mucoid stroma and tumor cells that were composed of round or pleomorphic nuclei with vacuolated cytoplasm(physaliphorus cells)that were compatible with chondroid chordoma. The third surgery was performed. Postoperatively, her symptoms improved, and cyber knife therapy was administered for the residual part of the tumor.

Although intrasellar chondroid chordomas are extremely rare, they should be considered in the differential diagnosis of tumors located in the sella turcica.