[Pituitary apoplexy in pediatric patients: systematic review]

Necrosis or hemorrhage associated with pituitary tumors is an infrequent complication. The term pituitary apoplexy is related to the development of an inflammatory process that leads to irritation of the meningeal and periselar areas. Regardless of the mechanism (hemorrhage or infarction), the extent of the hemorrhage and necrosis will produce an increase in intraselar pressure which, in turn, will lead to a more or less pronounced compression of neighboring structures, thus explaining the broad spectrum clinical.

We carried out a systematic review of cases published internationally. The analysis of 8 cases published in the literature was carried out, 5 cases in the male pediatric population (62.5%), and 3 cases of the female gender (37.5%).

The mean age was 12.8 years (SD ± 2.5). The clinical manifestations included: headache, impaired vision, nausea and vomiting, fever, cranial nerve involvement, and, to a lesser extent, compromise of consciousness. Seventy-five percent (n = 6) of the patients had a headache, 16.6% had a frontal location, 16.6% accompanied by retroorbital pain, and 66.6% did not specify the location. On the other hand, only 37.5% of the patients had nausea and/or vomiting. While 25% were admitted with fever and 12.5% (n = 1) had changes in the state of consciousness.

Pituitary apoplexy is a pathology that requires a multidisciplinary approach at the pediatric level. Management directed by pediatric neurosurgery and endocrinology will allow us to offer our patients the best, evidence-based treatment available.