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Updated: Oct 20, 2025
Implantation and Evaluation of Melanoma in the Murine Choroid via Optical Coherence Tomography
Published on: December 2, 2022
Primary sellar melanocytoma
M Claus1, M Van Der Linden2, J Van Dorpe2
1Department of Endocrinology, Ghent University Hospital, C. Heymanslaan 10, 9000, Ghent, Belgium. Mathieu.Claus@uzgent.be.
Purpose:
We present an up-to-date review of all published cases of sellar melanocytoma, a benign melanocytic neoplasm arising from melanocytes present in the leptomeninges surrounding the pituitary.
Methods:
Both the Medline and Embase databases were searched for case reports or case series of patients with a sellar mass consisting of melanocytes.
Results:
All 14 identified patients developed symptoms due to compression of the surrounding structures. Symptoms included pituitary dysfunction and visual impairment. All patients received a transsphenoidal resection as first-line treatment. The diagnosis is made on pathological examination but deciding whether a sellar melanocytic tumor is best classified as a melanocytoma or a melanoma is not straightforward.
Discussion:
Genetic analyses can help differentiate between central nervous system origin and metastasis of a cutaneous melanoma with the presence of a GNAQ and GNA11 mutations or a BRAF mutation, respectively. First choice treatment is complete resection, and in case of incomplete resection or recurrence additional radiotherapy is advised.
